


One for the money and two for the show.

by BeastGirl2k14



Series: A metaphorical fjord full of metaphorical ships that I may or may not ship...metaphorically [3]
Category: The Zatanna Zatara Fandom, Young Justice, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: After the shenanigans in Practical magic impractical uses and a lot of Booze, And it's basically Artemis's personality, Espionage, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Gen, M/M, Multi, Only using that tag bc I love it, Other, Russians, Spies, Spin the Bottle, Topping from the Bottom, a bit of angst, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-03 21:12:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1757139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeastGirl2k14/pseuds/BeastGirl2k14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Team goes on a mission to investigate possible Venom production and sales.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I love you, honey.

**Author's Note:**

> And so this tomfoolery begins. Excuse my abuse of the _italics_.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning.

Artemis Crock sat at attention in a plush red theater chair, watching the action on the stage in front of her unfold.

"And for my final act," the distinct clarion tones of a magicians voice projected themselves out into the _bewitched_ audience. "I will pull a rabbit out of my hat."

There was interested chatter and a few people sharing looks of confusion. The show so far had been ab-so-lute-ly enthralling, with amazing tricks involving fire turning into doves, cards coming to life, even the gimmicky 'I will now saw my lovely assistant in half. Don't worry, I'm a professional. *wonk*', but with quite the twist at the end. (Artemis was still wondering where the cake came from.)

"I know, I know, but it's harder than it looks." A knowing smile graced her lips.

Artemis leaned back in her seat, a smug look on her face as she watched a charismatic girl tap her wand on the large black top hat in her hand, proving there wasn't already a rabbit in it. 

_It's Zatara's hat._ The sandy-haired teenager thought from her perch in the midst of the audience. _Narnia could be in that hat and no one would know without the right backwards phrases._

She still watched, even though she'd seen this trick many times before. It was always exciting. Zatanna _made_ it exciting every. single. time.

The raven haired performer's efficacious white-gloved hand dove into the depths of the hat. She distorted her face into a comical expression of effort as she pretended to search around. She kept reaching down further and further until her entire arm was immersed in the topper and the audience was immersed in the entertainment value. 

"This little guy sure doesn't want to come out tonight." She said, faux embarrassment in the sweet timbre of her voice. Her other hand came up to grab the rim of the top hat, cartoonishly stretching it wider. She held it above her head, looking inside. "One moment." She projected out to the audience, her eyes landing right on the amused blonde in the middle of the rows of seating. 

The magician slipped her entire body into the hat, seeming to bend the rules of physics greatly. (more like entirely) The high hat dropped onto the stage with a soft pap, leaving the entire crowd slack-jawed and silent.

Moments went by before Zatanna seemed to fall from the rafters, landing right in the lap of a semi-surprised Artemis. 

"Ta da." She murmured to her charmed friend. The audience around them stood and clapped, chatter resuming, probably debating whether or not they believed in unicorns and Dumbledore now or if they'd blame this all on smoke and mirrors. 

Artemis believed in magic. She really did. She did since the day she saw Zatanna.

_*_

"She got a standing ovation!" Artemis described to the rest of the team as they packed up their things and started gathering in the briefing room of The Cave, waiting for the Zeta-Tubes in front of them to announce the arrival of the last missing member of their team.

 _'Zatanna, B08'_

Zatanna's form materialized in front of them, holding a few of the flowers she'd been given as she left the theater full of cheering fans.

The team greeted her just as warmly, wolf whistles and cheers filled the air, making Zatanna's pale cheeks glow with a slight pink tint.

"You told them about the performance, huh?" Zatanna conjectured, raising defined eyebrows at a smirky blonde. It was a rhetorical question, but Artemis nodded proudly.

"Obviously. You couldn't have really expected me to keep the secret of how ab-so-lute-ly rad you were tonight!" Artemis said.

_*_

The two had taken a small break in friendship, (which lasted a full 3 weeks, to everyone's surprise.) upon Zatanna's request a few days after Artemis's birthday party. She was very vague on the 'why?' but very firm on the fact that she needed it. It wasn't just Artemis either, she stopped hanging out with the others too, but she was the only one she broke contact with completely. (The archer pouted whenever she heard snippets of phone conversations between Zatanna and another person on The Team.)

Zee stayed in an apartment above the magic shop a friend of her dad's owned for the entire break, asking not to be included in any of the missions for a short time. No one was going to say no to her. Nothing was said aloud, but everyone knew that it was most likely a part of Zatanna coping with her father's absence.

It was Saturday, officially 3 weeks and two days of no communication between the magician and the archer, (And by no communication, that of course meant a total five texts consisting of 'Miss the team a lot. I'll be back soon.' and 'Whatever, Zee.' and variations of that. But that was very sparse for them.) when Artemis was startled by the catchy ring tone of her phone. She'd expected it to be Wally or M'gann, imagine her surprise when 'Zee c:' flashed on the glowing screen of her phone.

 _"Hello?"_  
"Why are you awake at this time of night, young lady?"  
"Zatanna? What the hell? ......You know, I could ask you the same thing."  
"Ah, but I'm 'magic' remember? I don't need sleep."  
"I feel like that logic is flawed. And no, I don't remember."  
"Artemis, it hasn't even been that long, don't be dramatic."  
"Maybe you aren't as memorable as you'd like to think, Zee."  
"I guess I'll have to work on that then, won't I, 'Arty.'"  
"Wait, your coming back to the team?"  
"Mhm. Excited?"  
"....Yeah I guess. You know...that's cool. I think Wolf's missed you."  
"I'm sure Wolf does. Scratch him behind the ears for me."  
"I will not do your bidding for you, Witch Girl."  
"Fine. Fine. I'll just do it tomorrow."  
"You're coming back tomorrow? Really?"  
"Yes. Excited now?"  
"Very."  
"Good to know. I haven't missed out on anything important, right?"  
"Nope. A few minor felonies here and there. Nothing to write home about."  
"Hahaha. Well looks like I'll have to really liven up the party then."  
"....Hhh. Yeah. I missed you laughing. Er....Like, anyone laughing, I guess. I've been too busy tonotice anyone else laughing, I guess...heh."  
"Mhm. Sure. Sounds like you *do* miss me."  
"Sure, like I'd miss a cat following me around, meowing backwards and causing toasters to explode."  
"That was once and it was an accident."  
"Surrrreeee."  
"I just wanted my poptarts to be done faster!"  
"Uh huh."  
"Did that cut on your arm scar?"  
"A little."  
"It wouldn't have if you had let me heal it."  
"I didn't want to end up like the toaster, Zee."  
"Hhhh. Whatever. Go to sleep, your coming to my show tomorrow."  
"I have plans."  
"No you don't. Yourcomingtomyshowwhetheryoulikeitornotmissyoubye."  
_*_

Artemis had shown up at Zatanna's apartment 20 minutes late. (Purposely.) Zatanna wasn't phased by it, she kind of expected it in fact. She insisted that they meet up 3 hours before the show to get a bite to eat and catch up. 

It turned into them sitting in the same booth at Denny's, Artemis's legs stretched across Zatanna's lap as she drilled her on how to say different words backwards. She was reading off of flashcards, of course, or else she would have been clueless on whether or not Zee was right.

"Annihilate" Artemis said, cutting her pancakes with one hand and holding the cards with the other.

"Etalihn--na?" Zatanna tried, taking the fork out of Artemis's hand, cutting a square chunk of pancake out of the stack, making sure to smear it across the plate to get the maximum amount of syrup.

Artemis turned the card over, inhaling through her teeth as a reaction. "Oooo, So close, But not quite. It's Etalilhinna." 

"Damn, Well looks like I'm going to have to stick with _Yortsed_ for now." Zatanna replied with a smile, holding the fork out in front of Artemis's face. The blonde leaned forward, sliding the fluffy, syrup saturated breakfast food off the fork and into her mouth, ashen eyes meeting with Zatanna's interested gaze.

The feeling that crept up Zatanna's spine told her that 3 weeks did nothing to how they were going to behave around each other. And in a lot of ways, she was pretty alright with that.

_*_

Artemis shouldered a large grey and green backpack, the straps taking their inanimate anger of having to hold up so much weight on the archers shoulders. The warm air pressed down on her too as she and The Team made their way across Bruce Wayne's private landing strip to Bruce Wayne's private luxury jumbo jet, greeted by a small group of people. (Bruce Wayne's private flight staff.)

(Artemis was still surprised after she found out that Bruce Wayne, the man who funded her tuition at Gotham Academy was also the man who funded and gave missions to her crime fighting group.)

By the time everyone was inside the jet and guided to the main cabin, Artemis had decided to add 'Having a rich boss' to the list of upsides to being a superhero.

The group was left to figure out who was sleeping in what bunk and in what room. Seeing as there was only two cabins, they went with the obvious option of boys in one room and girls in the other. (With the exception of Wolf claiming one of the bunks in the 'girls room'.)

Zatanna quickly staked her claim on one of the top bunks, (the one above Wolf) throwing her small leather bag onto it.

"How did you fit anything into that bag?" M'gann asked, situating herself on the bottom bunk across from Wolf's. She slid out of the straps of her large black and red bag, wincing and rubbing her sore shoulders.

"A good magician never reveals her secrets." Zatanna replied coyly, pulling a brown teddy bear out of her bag, followed by Zatara's top hat and the flash cards Artemis recognized from the Diner.

"It's basically a Mary Poppins bag, isn't it?" She commented as she climbed into the bunk above M'gann's.

"Yes, it's basically a Mary Poppins bag." Zee replied, feigning annoyance at Artemis. It only lasted a few seconds before her face cracked into a simper, which made Artemis roll her cinereal eyes, a smile reaching her own features as she started unpacking. 

_*_

Zatanna had been having odd dreams for a few days after Artemis's birthday party and the adventure following it. 

A few of them were of the things she'd witnessed in Artemis's mind on the roof of a department store that pretty much catered exclusively to preppy old women. She'd honestly only had one or two nightmares about the violent, more traumatic parts she's seen, the rest of them were filled with the white expanse, the hill, the picnic/tea party Arty's family had been enjoying. The overall Alice and Wonderland theme of it all that took Zatanna at least 2 days and 1 sleepless night to recognize.

In reality, those were the least _curious_ of her dreams. The more confusing visions that plagued Zatanna's sleeping hours were what seemed to be more flashbacks to the blurry night of Artemis's birthday. 

One night, Zatanna found herself back in the warehouse/club, dancing with Artemis. It was just before M'gann dumped ice on them. The bass of the music seemed to be a background noise, as if the speakers now had brick walls in front of them. Artemis's hands had slid down to hold onto Zatanna's waist as they danced. She was so close to her that the scent of her shampoo was the only thing the drunk magician could smell. "I love you, Zee. I hope you know that."

Zatanna bolted upright so quickly that she had whiplash for the next two days. She didn't use her magic to fix it, seeing as the Toaster had seen the worst of the instability her powers had been having.

_*_

"Zatanna?" 

"Think she slipped into a coma or something?"

"I hope not!"

"Zee! Zatanna. Witch girl. Sailor Zatara." Tanned fingers snapped in front of the dark-haired performer.

"Huh?" Zatanna shook herself out of the fog of her thoughts, bringing her back to the small cabin room around her and the big amber eyes that stared up at her, the eyebrows above them knitting together. "Oh, Sorry, I was uhm...thinking about my show."

Artemis was standing adjacent to the worried Martian, not looking nearly as concerned, dark eyebrows at rest as she leaned her arms on the edge of Zee's bed.

"Yeah, I'm bored too. Wanna go see what the boys are doing?" Artemis suggested, brushing auricomous strands of hair out of her face.

M'gann seemed happy to tag along, probably due to the prospect of seeing Conner. Zatanna on the other hand was hesitant. Robin had been particularly, well, Robin since Zatanna returned to the team. Not that Zatanna minded all that much, but he was, she hoped, the only other person aware of some of the more intimate goings ons that occurred on Artemis's birthday. 

"Zee, you coming?" Artemis's voice called, her hand on the door handle. 

"Sure." She said steadily, sliding out of her bed and onto the cold cabin floor. She noticed suddenly that the two other girls had switched into their PJs. 

_'How did you even miss that, Zatanna?? Get your head in the game.'_ she thought to herself as she twisted her hand in the air. 

"Elbatrofmoc samajap, esaelp." The spacey girl invoked, the echo in her voice indicating the witchy nature of her words. (If the speaking backwards hadn't tipped anyone off yet.)

A tendril of smoke wrapped itself around Zatanna's slender frame, and for a few split seconds, Zatanna felt bare. The feeling of a tight tank top and loose, flowy pajama pants fixed that split seconds later as well.

Artemis and M'gann clapped, Artemis doing it more for the sake of sarcasm than actual praise. Zatanna accepted it either way, bowing dramatically.

"Nice show, can we go?" The impatient blonde tapped her foot, ignoring the accidental rhyme of her words.

"Sure thing, Dr. Seuss." Zatanna teased, trailing behind her friends out of the sleeping quarters. They were surprised (but not really shocked.) to find the boys laying on the floor in the main cabin, (despite the fact that there were enough comfortable looking couches and armchairs to seat everyone.) playing what looked like an exciting game of Truth or dare. 

"Oh, look, the girls are back from their pillow fight," Wally started, a smug look already on his physiognomy. "We can play spin the bottle now."


	2. I'm ready, I'm ready to go.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some midflight drama before The Team gets their assignments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Whispers* The titles of the chapters are a Lana Del Rey reference...

Spin the bottle was always an amusing game with The Team. Whether it was because of seeing pairings like Roy and Conner snog or the punishments the group made up for whoever chickened out, things got fun fast.

"Your turn, Wally." Robin prompted, wiping at his mouth.

Wally smirked devilishly as he leaned into the middle of the circle, dragging his green eyed gaze across the faces of his teammates. He spun the empty coke bottle with a dramatic flick of his freckled hand, smugness in every movement of his body. Everyone watched the bottle spin and spin, anticipating and trying to calculate who it would land on as it started to slow down, eventually coming to a complete stop aimed right at....

"Oooooo, Artemis!" Robin laughed, nudging Wally in the ribs. Wally stared at the bottle, looking slightly surprised before the self-satisfied expression returned to his features. He was in front of Artemis in a _flash_ , already cracking jokes as he leaned toward her.

Zatanna shifted uncomfortably, watching the spectacular from next to M'gann, just a few people away from Artemis. Arty's tanned cheeks were glowing pink despite her unamused expression. She exchanged a few moments of bantering with the speedster before their lips clashed together, Wally leaning over her dominantly. 

Zatanna turned away from the snog session, inadvertently catching Robin's gaze. He gave her a sympathetic smile as the rest of The Team hooted and hollered, but it only made the uncomfortable twisting feeling in the pit of Zee's stomach that much worse. 

Luckily, the kissing ended with both of the heroes breathless and flushed, smirking and taunting each other as soon as they could function properly again. Wally returned to his side of the circle, looking even more sated than usual.

"Your turn, Artemis. Last round, we have 8 hours until touch down." Robin prompted the distracted teenager. 

"Right, right." Artemis mimicked exactly what Wally had done earlier, minus some of the general smugness. The bottle pirouetted in the middle of beguiled group of minors, taking exponentially less time to land on the next source of entertainment.

"Who could have guessed." Roy laughed from his spot next to Kaldur.

_*_

Artemis's lips tasted like a mix of strawberry flavoured chapstick and vodka. It was something Zatanna would think about long after her lips clashed with the drunk archer's in a particularly sketchy alleyway. 

"Happy birthday." The magician murmured between alcohol fueled kisses, her fingers holding onto the fabric of Artemis's jacket. It was inherently obvious, even to Zatanna's vodka addled mind, that their relationship rarely went further than mild flirting and general friendly touching without a bit of liquid courage running through their underaged veins. (She was 17 now, Artemis would insist, that's almost an adult. She didn't care about the _actual_ drinking age.)

"It is now." The blonde replied as their lips brushed against each other, their breath mingling in the tiny space between them.

_*_

"Zatanna?" Ash colored eyes peered down at the confused Magician. "M'gann, she's doing it again." 

_'Ugh, I've got to stop doing that, jesus.'_

"Hm? Oh, god, sorry, Hi." Zatanna came back to reality with a shake of her head.

"Are you feeling alright, Zee?" Artemis asked, putting the back of her hand on the spacey sorceress' forehead, feeling for signs of a fever or maybe a head injury. 

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine." She said, pushing Artemis's hand away. "I'm just really tired."

"Well make out a little and then we can all catch some....'Zees.'" Wally commented from behind Artemis, practically foaming at the mouth to use that pun. (Everyone groaned in unison.)

"Ready, Zee?" Artemis tilted her head slightly, still looking her over curiously. Maybe she wasn't sure if Zatanna had picked up some magic disease that made the carrier really spacey and confused looking all the time or maybe she wasn't sure if Zatanna was up for kissing. 

Zatanna leaned forward suddenly and planted a surprisingly chaste peck on Artemis's lips. Arty didn't even have time to react before Zee was standing up and all but running into the girl's cabin room.

"Well....that was anti-climatic...." Roy commented. 

_*_

Artemis struggled with what exactly to feel when she and M'gann returned to the to the girl's cabin. The lights were off and Zatanna was under the plush covers of her bunk bed, turned toward the wall.

"I'm....gonna go get some...water or something..." M'gann said. She didn't need to be a empath to feel the tension in the room. She patted Artemis's shoulder as she walked back out into the main cabin.

Artemis took in a deep breath, steeling herself. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on in Zee's mind, and if she wasn't her best friend, she probably wouldn't care. But she was, so she did.

"Zatanna..." Artemis approached the edge of the magician's bed. "You don't seem okay, babe." She reached a tan hand out to touch the girl's shoulder. She snatched her hand back when it phased right through Zatanna's form. 

_This was some more witchy bullshit._


	3. Witchy Bullshit 2: Return of the tomfoolery.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More witchy bullshit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk guys, it's 4 am again.

Zatanna was sitting in the miniature kitchen of the jet, leaning over a granite counter top, resting her head on her arms as she flipped carelessly through white slips of paper. She murmured the words on the cards, trying to memorize them. Locks of swarthy hair cascaded down her back, contrasting against the red of her tank top.

"Zatanna?" M'gann surprised voice startled Zee slightly, the cards she'd been levitating falling onto the counter in front of her as she turned around.

"Jeeze!" Zatanna squeaked. "Oh....Hey M'gann. I thought you were one of the weird butlers that never talks....Then again, that seems unlikely now." She offered the alarmed martian a friendly smile.

"But...I thought you were...." M'gann pointed behind her, confusion distorting her expression as she tried to comprehend the witchy bullshit going down.

"Illusion." Zatanna summarized for her, holding her gloved hands up in front of herself and wiggling her fingers.

"Oh...really?" The green girl raised her eyebrows, an obvious question burning in her orange eyes.

"I just needed some alone time, And I didn't want to be weird and the only one awake in there while you two slept...." Zee said, picking her flash cards up and reorganizing them into a neat stack.

"Ah. Well alright. Do you still...need to be alone? Because I can go see what Art---"

"No, no. It's okay, M'gann, really." Zatanna tried to put a cheery inflection in her voice. The alien tilted her head, sensing the falseness right away. She wasn't going to push Zatanna on the matter. She'd learned over her years on Earth that often, humans would say the things they needed to when the time was right.

"Are you feeling well, Zatanna?" M'gann asked as she crossed the compact kitchen (still fairly large for being on a plane.) "You've been a little....er...Spacey, as Artemis put it."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine!" Zatanna shuffled the flashcards in between her skilled hands. "I guess I get...uh plane sick. I'm sure I feel better when we get back onto solid ground." 

"Uh-huh." M'gann eventually found a cupboard stocked full of small cups. She pulled one out, glancing at the magician. "So it has nothing to do with Artemis?" So much for letting her say things when the time was right.

"Not really." Zatanna put the cards down on the granite in front of her. The sound of running water caught her attention, her head turning to look at the red haired alien filling her cup in the small sink below the cabinets. "I just---"

A loud clang and rattle of sound outside of the kitchen door cut Zatanna's words off, stealing the attentions of the teenaged girls.

_*_

Artemis came to the conclusion, rather quickly, that Zatanna made an illusion of herself, and was not, in fact, a ghost.

The question remained, why?

Artemis watched the illusion for a few moments as she mulled through thoughts and memories, trying to put the whole picture together. The Zatanna illusion was a perfect match, so much so, that if she hadn't touched it---her?, she wouldn't have known it was a trick at all. It had the same pale skin, the same flow of shiny black hair, even the same gentle curves of her body. 

One thing was missing, Artemis noticed, _Lavender._ Zatanna always smelled like lavender. Artemis was never sure if it was because of the kind of soap she used or if it was just some silly result of a spell gone wrong. Either way, Artemis was addicted. She found that, over the small period of time where they didn't see each other, she missed the smell of lavender more than cared to admit.

Eventually, Artemis decided that this faux Zatanna and the break were not really her business to pry into. Even if she wanted to. She, of all people, understood the need for privacy. 

This resolution didn't stop the archer from soon finding herself standing outside the kitchen door, ears trained to pick up the conversation going on inside. 

"Not really." She could hear Zatanna's voice, then the creak of a faucet, the rush of water and another creak.

"What 'cha doin'?" A voice said right next to her ear, making her jump and knock a small painting off a wall. 

"Wally!" Artemis snarled, pulling him and herself away from the door and into a darkened hallway. "What the hell!?"

"Whaaaat? I was just asking what you were doing." The ginger replied, trying to display faux innocence. The gleam in his emerald eyes gave him away everytime.

"Suuuuurre." Artemis crossed her arms, listening for the sounds of anyone approaching where they were standing. "Why are you even up?"

"The Wallster never stops, baby." Wally grinned, his white teeth almost looked like they gleamed cartoonishly for a moment there.

"I am oh so aware, 'Wallster'." The lack of amusement in the sandy-haired girl's voice was painfully obvious. "Go to bed, we have a mission briefing in the morning."

"And leave you to eaves-drop without me? I don't think so!" The freckled faced boy kept smiling, his messy ginger hair giving him the look of an excited puppy.

"I'm not eaves-dropping. I was actually about to go back to bed myself." Artemis countered, fighting to keep the mask of disdain on her pretty face.

"Sure you were." Wally's face finally dropped back into only the slightest smug smirk.

"Yep...." Artemis glanced to the side, almost considering returning to the scene of the crime. "I'm...going to go do that now." She said, slipping past Wally. 

_*_

Artemis was leaning against a wall, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched a few performers and assistants scramble around. 

"Show starts in 10 everybody!" A large bearded man called across the backstage area. Everyone seemed to scramble faster, as if put on fast forward.

"You look excited to be here." A familiar voice commented as a hand met with Artemis's arm.

"Always excited to be surrounded by 'circus freaks'." She jabbed a tanned finger in the direction of a sign spread across the back drop of the stage. Written in big red letter was 'HECATE'S CIRCUS FREAKS.'

"Hey. I'm one of those circus freaks, you know." Zatanna said, mock hurt in her voice.

"Eeeeexactly." Artemis smiled, leaning a little closer to the magician. "Nice costume by the way." She said with a tilt of her head.

Zatanna was garbed in a rather spiffy set of clothing. It was very similar to what she wore as her superhero costume, but with the addition of Zatara's top hat, a wand, a lower cut shirt and, rather than grey stockings under her shorts, she wore closely woven black fishnets. 

"Thanks. I thought you'd like." Zatanna smiled brightly up at the blonde.

"Show starts in 5. Show in 5!" The bearded man called again.

"I should probably go grab my seat before someone else does." Artemis said, her smile fading a little from her lips. "Break a leg, Zee."

_*_

"Artemis. Hey, Artemis. Rise and shine, sweetheart." A hand shook Artemis's shoulder, making her groan.

"Noooo." She whined, yet to phased by the odd position she was sleeping in.

"Come on, Arty. We have 1 hour until touch down." The familiar light intonations of Zatanna's voice roused Artemis from her bleariness. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes as Zatanna's face came into focus. 

"Huh. Your eyes are really blue." The sleepy archer commented. 

"I hadn't noticed." Zatanna retorted, watching Arty stretch her arms and back.

"Wait....why am I on the floor?" She asked, her arms coming back down to her sides. "Aaah, and why does my back hurt?" She whimpered softly. She glanced around, surprised to see Wolf's face next to her head. She didn't remember sitting down here last night, but she also didn't remember anything after returning from _not eaves-dropping._

"You must of dozed off while having a heart to heart with Wolf." Zatanna satirized.

"Better question, why did you and M'gann _let_ me sleep on the floor?" 

"Huh?" M'gann popped her head out of the small bathroom in the back of the cabin.

"Artemis is blaming her problems on us." Zatanna summed up. The archer in question just rolled her eyes and let out a sore puff of air. 

"Ah. Alright then." M'gann said incredulously, a red toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. She ducked back into the bathroom before she could be included in anymore banter.

"We should start getting ready." Zee said, offering her hand out to Artemis.

"Yeah yeah. Okay." Artemis said, taking her hand, knowing full well Zatanna could be ready in the time it took to say a few backwards words.

_*_

"Batman said to wait for his special friend to show up and tell us which planes each of us need to get on next." Robin said as they all waited in the hot air of an abandoned Quracian airway. (Apparently a jumbo jet was not covert enough for some of their missions.)

"Wanky." Artemis commented.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still laughing that everytime these dorks say they're going to respect each others privacy, they don't.


	4. A conversation with a very smart dog.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time. Still sort of mapping out plot rather than just going for it. Ha.

Artemis had decided to keep her word and return to the girl's bunk room, more for the sake of not being followed around by the over-excited speedster than actually having morals and respect for privacy.

She loved Wally. She did. A lot like she loved everyone else on the team. He was like....not a brother, that would be weird. More like a....a friend that she'd almost died with at least a few dozen times. After the New Years kiss, they had tried out a relationship, but everyone knew that that was an awful idea, lasting only 3 months. (Which, was actually fairly long for crime-fighting teenagers.) They settled on being friends with semi-uncomfortable amounts of sexual tension some times for the time being. Some where in the back of Artemis's mind, she knew they'd wind up together again. She thought, maybe as a college relationship, seeing as they were both planning on going to Standford. 

But that was all future, and right now, she was focused on keeping up the thick-as-thieves-yet-still-sardonic-and-pretend-we-hate-each-other relationship they'd reestablished a year and a half-ish ago, even if she could use some one to talk to right now. And Wally was not the best snooping and eaves-dropping companion, and he was not the best listener, either.

The blonde haired girl opened the door of the girl's cabin room with a gentle jerk, peering into the room from the doorway. The light from behind her cast her elongated shadow across the floor between the beds, making her look fairly menacing. Wolf didn't seemed intimidated, barely acknowledging her from his nest of blankets on the bunk below illusion-Zatanna. 

It would be really weird to talk to the faux appearance of Zee....but she---it? wouldn't be able to give her judgmental looks.... 

Artemis shrugged mentally as she slid down to the ground next to Wolf. It would be less weird to talk to Conner's supersized pet.

"What's up, Wolf?" The golden-haired girl asked, a tired tone to her voice. Wolf flicked his ears, moving his head slightly to get a better look at her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too." She said as she watched the silver furred beast yawn, showing off an impressive set of flesh-sheering, bone-crushing teeth.

"I should probably get to sleep before Zee and M'gann get back from their exclusive kitchen conversation, huh?" She turned her head to look at the dog fully, stormy grey eyes meeting almost colorless ones in the darkness of the room.

"Don't look at me like that, I wasn't just gonna barge in on it. If they wanted me there, they would have invited me." Artemis crossed her arms over her black tank top, her head snapping forward again as she pouted.

"I'm really fucking tired, okay? I bet in the morning this will all seem really stupid or something." She said when she felt Wolf thump his tail on the bed.

"I just don't get what Zee's deal is." The archer continued, bring her knees up to her chest. "She's been weird ever since we got on the plane. Is she just air-sick or something?"

"Air-sick.....that's a thing right? Or is it plane sick? Or is it just more witchy bullshit?" She uncrossed her arms and pushed a rogue strand of hair behind her ear.

"She's been back less than a day and it already seems like she wants to be no where near us....Well, no where near me..." Wolf leaned forward and licked the side of Artemis's face.

"Pft. Yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm being dramatic." She chuckled a bit as she pushed Wolf's head away. "I guess having to do that mission with Dr.Fate took a toll on her or something. I doubt my birthday mess helped." Her fingers laced themselves into the fur behind Wolf's ear, scratching lightly. "I'm her best friend though, she could have talked to me about it...rather than just _not_ talking to me at all for almost a month."

"Life would be a lot easier if people were as easy to please as dogs." She said, a smile pulling at her lips as Wolf's tail wagged. 

"I shouldn't worry about it, should I?" Artemis asked. Wolf met her gaze, staring at her for a few moments before his eye's fluttered closed. "Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't. I should get some sleep."

"You're a great listener, Wolf."


	5. Wanky.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting and sexual tension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not real. I'm sorry.

"And, Artemis, Speedy--"

"It's Red Arrow now." A deep voice growled from behind Artemis. She rolled her eyes. 

_Great, Stuck doing a mission with this asshat._

"Ahem. Artemis, _Red Arrow_ and Zatanna."

 _Hhhhhhhhokay._

The sandy-haired girl turned her gaze toward Zatanna, standing to the side, just barely a step behind her. The magician stared at 'Batman's special friend', who was really just an equally stoic stand in for the caped crusader while he was off on other business, like she'd misheard him. When she caught Artemis's gaze, her expression cracked into a beaming smile, blue eyes brightening up a little.

_Hhhhhhhomg._

Artemis returned the smile, only dropping it when Roy walked in between them, bumping into her shoulder as he headed toward their assigned plane. She scowled at the back of his head, wishing his fiery ginger hair would actually catch fire. Zee nudged her, pulling her back from plotting Roy's demise. 

"Come on, Arty. It's just one mission." She said sympathetically, giving her a 'please don't kill each other.' begging sort of look.

 _One mission full of lots of opportunities for Roy to 'accidentally' die._ She smirked to herself. Zee raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, Ha, yeah you're right." Artemis sighed. "One mission with _you_ , me and Roy will probably go alright."

"Probably." Zatanna agreed, matching her stride with Artemis's as they crossed the airway to the small black airplane awaiting them. 

"HELL YEAH. ALPHA TEAM BABY. WOOOOO." An ecstatic voice exploded out of one of the planes they passed. "ALLLLLLLLLPPPPPPHHHHAAAA." Wally ran out onto the top of the step leading up to his plane, fist pumping and thrusting at the air. "WOOOOOOOOOO." He was quickly dragged back into the plane by an embarrassed looking Boy Wonder.

_*_

"Oh yeah, like I really want to be on a mission with the guy whose dating and has probably seen my sister naked. NO. REALLY. It's been at the top of my bucket list for ages. It's only a bonus that YOU'RE ALSO AN INSUFFERABLE PRICK." Artemis growled, chin jutting out as she stared up at the enraged face of Roy. 

"For the last fucking time, I AM NOT DATING YOUR SISTER." Roy yelled back, bristling as he stared down at the angry blonde.

"Oh riiiight, you have a thing for _Atlantians_ now." She countered, her hands balling into her fists at her sides.

"And you have a thing for a guy whose only ever been out run by his own mouth!" Roy leaned over her, trying to intimidate her, but she clearly wasn't going to back down. "Oh, and let's not forget _magicians_ too!"

"Well at least I'm a re---" Artemis's words were reduced to muffled growls and then surprised yelps. Her long tan fingers came up to the gag around her mouth, looking up to see Roy struggling with one of his own. They turned to stare at the third member of their party in synchronicity.

"Oh hi, guys." Zatanna waved sardonically. "Yeah, I'm still here. And as much as a _love_ watching you two fight about whose the bigger idiot with the most interesting love life, I'd think it would be smart to, oh I don't know, _check out the briefing Batman assigned to us_. Maybe. Just a suggestion." the magician growled, gesturing with her hands animatedly, the movements highlighted by the white of her gloves.

The two archers glared at each other, having a ferocious argument with their eyes, eventually yielding and turning back to the annoyed girl sitting comfortably on a plush couch, identical to the one on Bruce Wayne's private jumbo jet.

"Esaeler mehtt morf rieht sgag." 

The gags seemed to dissolve, freeing the archers' mouths. They both sent more heated glowers at each other, daring the other to be the first to speak up and piss Zatanna off. Neither of them were brave enough for that, though.

 _If only looks could kill._ Artemis thought as she slid into a spot next to Zatanna on the large couch, the dip in the cushions pushing them a little closer to each other than Artemis had intended. Zatanna didn't seem to mind, opening the digital file on the small coffee table in front of them.

It flared to life, projecting a blue screen into the air in front of the two girls. Red Arrow leaned on the arm of the couch, standing on the other side of Zee from the annoyed blonde, probably for the best.

An image of Batman appeared in front of them, all broad shoulders and Dark-Knight-Ain't-Takin-No-Bullshit attitude rolling off him in waves. 

"Artemis, Zatanna and S--Red Arrow." Batman's physiognomy greeted. Red Arrow crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not amused by the Bat's minor slip up.

"You've been assigned with the Espionage mission."

"Doesn't he know Espionage missions always end in explosions with us?" Artemis commented under her breath, leaning a little closer to Zatanna. She swatted at the Archer's thigh softly in response, rolling her eyes with a mix of exasperation and amusement. 

"The goal is to gather information from this boy," The hologram split in two partitioned columns. On one side was the image of Batman and the other was filled with several images of-- "Dmitriy Andreevich, or Dima Andre."

Dima was a strong jawed boy, with high cheekbones and icy blue eyes to rival even Zatanna's. (Not nearly as pretty or big, Artemis's mind noted helpfully.) A shock of dark hair, combed back slightly, gave him a rather striking look against the snowy backround of the picture Zatanna was examining. 

"He is currently 16 years old and the son of Adrian Andreevich, a prominent man in Russia's organized crime scene, suspected of buying and selling large quantities of Venom in Russia." Batman explained as another photo appeared. Adrian looked a lot like Dima, as would be expected, with high cheek bones and icy blue eyes. But his swarthy hair was much shorter and his jaw was covered by a thick salt and pepper beard. A notable scar on his neck told Artemis that this guy was probably not one to be messed with.

"Zatanna, you will go undercover to befriend Dima at his 17th birthday party. You will be using the alias Anna Volkskaya." 

"Wait, hold up." Artemis held up a finger in the air, ignoring the fact that the Batman hologram was prerecorded. "Pause playback." She said suddenly, the masked hero on the screen froze. " _'Befriend' Dima_??" The blonde turned to Zee, holding her hands up and making air quotation marks around the word 'Befriend.'

"Artemis..." Zatanna tilted her head slightly, a fond smile pulling at her lips, using her 'you're being silly, shhhh' tone.

"Oh don't Artemis me." Artemis growled, trying no to be swayed by the sweet timbre of Zatanna's voice. "Batman's basically pimping you out, Zee!" She pushed strands of gold behind her ear. "That is literally never a sentence I thought I would ever say."

"I think you're reading in to it a little to much, Artemis." Roy commented.

"Shut up." The grey eyed girl barked. Roy held up his hands defensively, backing down. 

"He's right, Arty. He just wants me to _be friends with Dima_. Not sleep with him!" Zatanna insisted. 

"Sure. Whatever." Artemis crossed her arms. "Resume Playback." The anger was still sharp in the intonations of her voice.

"You are a Russian born girl who moved to the U.S. when you were 6. You are now back in Russia to find your mother, whom you think is involved in the Venom Market. You were invited to Dima's party by a friend, Natasha Artemievna." 

"Artemis, you will be undercover as well, as said friend, Natasha Artemievna." Artemis raised her eyebrows, sharing a quick glance at Zatanna. "Yes, I am aware that these names are very similar to your own. I did that on purpose, seeing that this is your first real undercover op, In case either of you slip up."

Roy scoffed, earning him a glare from Artemis. 

"Artemis, your mission will to not only be closer protection for Zatanna, but also to learn as much about the Venom trade from Dima's older friends. Especially these people." More pictures popped into the opposite column from Batman's image, crowding it.

"Marianna Olegovna and her sister Valentina, " The pictures of two blonde, green eyed girls were highlighted by a border of lighter blue on the screen in front of them. "Are the daughters of Yasha Olegov and childhood friends of Dima. Valentina is our inside operative. She's your connection to Dima, Artemis. 

"You met Valentina at boarding school in Britain and became best friends. She will serve a support for your covers, but her cover is much more important, keep that in mind." 

"Red Arrow, you will be undercover as the new guard at the Andreevich estate. Your cover is Sasha Petrovich."

"Creative." Roy sneered.

"You're mission is to serve as Zatanna and Artemis's eyes and ears, and to extract them safely if something goes wrong. You are not to have any physical contact with them in any other situation. Natasha and Anna don't know Sasha at all. Try not to draw attention to yourself."

"Grunt work, great." He said with a roll of his eyes.

"Here are maps of the building, the guest list and the bios of your covers and the people you'll have contact with. I suggest you study them well. Your mission starts tomorrow. Good luck." Batman's image disappeared and were replaced by more information.

"I think I know all I need to. I'll be in the gym if you need me." Roy said as he started walking away. "Don't need me." He added over his shoulder before disappearing.

"This plane has a gym?" Zatanna raised her eyebrows. 

"Rich people." Artemis said with a shrug of her shoulders.

_*_

"Okay, I've got it this time. I'm Annastasia Volkskaya or Anna Volks for short. I was born in Yegoryevsk, near the Guslitsa River. I moved to New York when I was 6 and lived there til I was 11. Then I moved to Lawrence, Kansas for 3 years with my uncle until my cousins took me back to New York and told me about my mom. Ever since then I've been trying to find her. I tracked her back to Russia and I think she's part of a crime ring with major dealings in Venom production. Her name is Maya Volkskaya, but my cousins say she hasn't used that name in years. I'm best friends with Natasha Artemievna, you, but I didn't go to Boarding school with you and Valentina. I am friends with Val but not as closely. Neither of us know Marianna well and she could be the trip to our cover. Uhhh...Oh and I speak Russian, Spanish and Italian."

Zatanna took in a deep breath, smiling from her side of the couch, back in her black tank top and red pajama pants even though they had a few more hours before it was even vaguely reasonable to go back to bed. "Did I get it all right?"

"I don't know, say all the Russian words again. I like the way they sound." Artemis smirked, flipping through the hologram files in her lap. 

" _Artyyy_." Zatanna sighed, a slight whining tone to her voice that snapped Artemis's attention up from the glowing files.

"Yeah, you got it all down, Zee." She reported, her eyes flickering back down.

"You mean, _Anna._ " Zee asserted softly, shifting forwards on her knees so she could lean closer to Artemis, peering at what she was reading.

"Mhm, sure." Artemis hummed, flicking through the information glowing in her lap.

"Why are you looking at Dima's bio?" Zatanna inquired gently, her breath brushing past Artemis's ear.

"I thought I'd check out this guy your meant to be 'befriending.'" Arty replied, shifting slightly. "Do know how to defend yourself?" She asked offhandedly. 

"Obviously. Nrut sih sehtolc otni sgnidnib and nrut reh snopaew otni suonosiop sekans are re--."

"No, I mean, hand to hand. Not magic." Artemis cut in, turning her head toward Zee, the files in her lap forgotten.

"Well...I took a self defense class once." Zee said, trying to recall how long ago that had been.

"Was it taught by Black Canary?" The blonde raised her eyebrows, knowing the answer already. Zee sighed with that trademark mix of exasperation and fondness, leaning her head against Artemis's shoulder for a few seconds. "What are you going to do if you gagged or something?"

"Well you'll be there to protect me, won't you Arty?" She was using that tone. That sweeter-than-honey tone she only used when she wanted Artemis to stop bothering her about something she didn't think was important. She wasn't going to let her distract her this time around.

"I'd rather we both have each others backs." Artemis retorted, catching Zatanna's gaze, insisting with both her mouth and her eyes.

"Well, I guess I could ask Roy to give me a quick lesson before we la---"

"Ew, No, If your going to get beat up by anyone for educational purposes, its going to be me, Zee."

 _Hhhhhoh no._ Zatanna thought of a million and four ways to say no, not happening, never, our friendship will not survive that amount a body contact and grunting, lets just not, but of course her mouth said:

"Sounds like fun."

_Goddammit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapters probs gonna be awkward hot sweaty fighting scenes mixed in with flashbacks and what the other teams are doing. Be excited.


	6. Salt and citrus.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It only gets wankier from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to Avicii's Addicted to you while writing this so, if you want a soundtrack. Pft.

The plane landed an hour earlier than expected, cutting through the dreary Russian sky above a sparsely populated landing strip. Roy was already waiting on the runway, bags packed, (more accurately bag packed, apparently he packed light.) and muscular arms crossed over his chest by the time Zatanna and Artemis even started packing up their things. 

Roy looks so out of place in his civvies. Self-satisfied and pissed as usual, but still juxtapositioned in his loose grey T-shirt and red and black biking jacket. They'd seen him in civvies before, of course, but it still caught Artemis off guard sometimes.

_*_

"We're going to head to the gym." Artemis reported offhandedly to Roy when they arrived in the hotel Bruce had bought them a room in. One room. For all three of them. He decides to be stingy on _that_ detail. Luckily the room had 2 beds and a couch.

"I don't care." Roy replied. He sat down on a white couch (surprisingly lower quality than the ones on The Dark Night's planes.) in front of a worn wooden coffee table and a flatscreen TV. He laid his arrows out across the table, examining them carefully, checking a double checking each one.

"Great, bye." Artemis pulled Zee out of the hotel room as soon as she put her stuff down. "Got a spell for some kick ass athletic gear, Zee?"

" _Anna!_ " Zatanna elbowed the blonde girl gently. "And yeah, I'm sure I do, _Natasha._ "

"Okay, _Anna_." Artemis said sardonically with a roll of her eyes. 

"Elbisnes citelhtla nailivic brag, won!"

Tendrils of white and grey smoke wrapped themselves around the girls' legs, creeping up their bodies until they were completely enveloped in a world of clouds and magic. Artemis felt a sudden rush of exposure, cold air shocking the skin on her legs, arms and midriff, raising goosebumps on her tanned skin. 

When the smoke cleared, fading away like it had never been there, the blonde's eyes glanced down at her body and examined her new attire. A stretchy army green sports bra covered her chest and a very... _minimalist_ pair of darker green shorts covered from her waistband to about 4 inches down her thighs. 

She glanced up at Zatanna, eyebrows raised curiously, only to find her clad in a very similar outfit, differentiating mainly in color, Zee's being themed with an obvious choice of black and white. Artemis played off a blush with a laugh.

"The powers that be really like to see us half naked, hm?" She commented.

"I said sensible, apparently this is sensible." Zee said with a shrug.

"To who, strippers?" Artemis muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Zatanna arched a dark eyebrow, leading Artemis down the the narrow hallway of the 'Chto-to Rossii Hotel.', her fingers just barely holding onto Artemis's.

"Nothing." Artemis lied innocently, following just close enough so she could keep contact with the magicians fingers. 

"I thought so." Zee shot over her shoulder, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

_*_

Wally West was still dancing around like an idiot, singing/white-boy-rapping about getting on 'Alpha Team, Baby! Boo-yah!'. His smile was blindingly bright, scrunching his freckled cheeks and making his emerald eyes sparkle enticingly. 

Dick Grayson was flipping through the files Batman had supplied them, drinking in every scrap of information like it held the meaning of life. His shoulders had broadened out over the years, making him look more the part of Batman's protege, and he'd gotten over wearing sunglasses all the time. (Which was the result of an exciting party a year ago where he could either kiss Kaldur for 10 minutes or reveal his identity. He chose the latter for the sake of non-awkward friendships.) But one thing he hadn't gotten over was his amazing ability to ignore Wally's shenanigans. (That's his superpower.)

"What do you think the girls are doing?" Wally asked, crashing into a spot next to Robin on a large brown loveseat. 

"I imagine Artemis is murdering Roy at this point, Zatanna's figuring out ways to hide the body and M'gann's making out with Conner." The Boy Wonder answered monotonously, not even looking at the grinning ginger speedster munching on Chicken Wizzies loudly next to his ear. 

"I bet Artemis and Zatanna are making out after beating Roy up." Wally laughed, nudging Robin in the ribs. "Imagine it, dude." He made an arch in the air with his Wizzie powder covered hands. 

"Go away, Wally." Dick grumbled.

"Come on man, it would be super hot. Like....damn." Wally said wistfully.

"I can't tell if your getting off on the idea of Artemis and Zee making out or of Roy being dead or maimed."

"Both, man. Both."

_*_

"Nice. Show me that move again." Artemis instructed, pushing a strand of rogue gold behind her ear and wiping her tan stomach and knees off. Someone really needed to sweep these mats, jeeze. 

Zatanna's foot came swinging in the direction of Artemis's face, being caught by a gloved hand just before it could make contact with the archer's cheek.

"Sloppy. Don't hold back." Artemis chided as she pulled on her foot, making the flustered magician stumble.

_Come on, Zee, you've got this._

Zatanna propelled herself off the ground with her other foot, barely able to force her leg onto Artemis's shoulder. The blonde lost her grip on Zee's other foot, giving Zatanna the opportunity to get Artemis's head between her knees and twist herself toward the ground. Artemis growled with effort, trying to keep her head from being smashed into the red mats. She contorted her body just enough to grab Zee's shoulder and push her down first. The magician ended up on her hands and knees, arm pinned behind her back by a satisfied blonde. 

"Close, but not quite." Artemis huffed softly, her fingers holding one of Zee's arm behind her back from her position on top of the blue eyed girl. 

She was more than surprised when Zatanna dropped and rolled suddenly, kicking Artemis's shoulder and laying her out flat on her back. Zee's weight was on top of her in seconds, grabbing her wrists and holding them above her head.

"Never let your guard down, right?" Zatanna said with a smug smile. Artemis stared up at her for a moment, shocked and impressed. This showed in the expression of fondness that danced across her features, distracting Zee with a flash of a smile.

Artemis rolled her hips in the just right way to unbalance Zee and push her off. She didn't waste a second to flip over on top of her, balanced on her hands and knees, pinning the magician down aggressively.

"Right." Artemis smirked down at Zatanna's surprised blue-eyed gaze. "You forfeit yet?"

"You'll have to make me." Zatanna growled, a new determination in her movements. She wrapped her legs around Artemis's waist, forcing her back to the ground.

_*_

"Down, Wolf!" Kaldur yelled. "It's my sandwich! You can't have it!"

_*_

"M'gann, We've been watching this show for the last 4 hours." Conner commented.

"Are you tired of it yet?"

"No, I like Daenerys Targaryen. She seems cool."

"I know. I want to be her."

"You can do that right?"

"Hel-lo Megan!"

_*_

"Hhhhng." Zatanna whimpered, trying to wriggle free of Artemis's arm's around her waist and neck, threatening to slam her onto the mats again.

"...Forfeit...now?" Artemis asked breathlessly, panting against the soft skin of Zee's shoulder. 

"Nope." The raven haired magician replied defiantly, fighting to catch her own breath, sweat glistening on her light skin. 

In seconds they were both on the ground again, Zatanna's gloved hands pinned under Arty's knees and her hips pinned down by the blonde's weight. She writhed and struggled under Artemis, her chest rising off the mat, making a good show of it even though she knew she wasn't going to get free.

"How about we both just forfeit?" Zatanna suggested with a tired smile. 

"Good idea."

_*_

"No homo, Grayson."

"Wally, I swear to Batman."

_*_

"Great show, Zee." 

Zatanna looked up from the glowing screen of her phone, looking into the light bulb lined mirror in front of her. Tempestuous grey eyes, tan skin, sandy blonde hair and a smile with teeth whiter than should ever be allowed greeted her gaze. Her chest felt tight, her heart beat felt like it picked up too quickly, pumping her blood too fast, too hard, sending heat from her core to the very tips of her fingers. 

"Thanks, Arty." Zee said sweetly, looking like the epitome of calm despite the bubbling feeling stirring inside of her. She didn't even think when her lips spread into an easy smile, her entire body perking up a bit. 

_It's just Arty....Just. Arty. Not a ghost, not a witch hunter, just Arty. Which...might not be better..._

"Really digging this Playboy Bunny bow tie thing you've got going on." Artemis bent over, pulling on each side of the white bow tie resting on Zee's throat. Zatanna's breath hitched.

The blonde hair beauty rested her chin on Zatanna's shoulder, being much more affectionate than she had been this morning in the Diner. "You should wear it like this more often." She commented, her hands dropping to rest on her shoulders.

Zatanna could feel heat creeping up her neck and burning on the tips of her ears as she internally fought to keep the blush off her cheeks. She turned her head slightly, her nose only a few inches away from Artemis's cheek.

"Do you wanna go get some coffee before we go back to The Cave?" Zatanna asked suddenly.

"Sure." Artemis met Zees gaze again, curiosity swirling around in the raging storm of her eyes, contrasting so heavily against the icy coolness of Zatanna's baby blues. 

They accentuated each other well. Their eyes, their hair, even their personalities. 

_Like salt and citrus._ Zatanna thought to herself.

_*_

"DON'T BLAME ME FOR ALMOST GETTING ARRESTED. HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW CHICKEN WIZZIES WERE ILLEGAL IN THIS COUNTRY???"


	7. Two for the show.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, enough Dick-ing around (wonk). They're actually going on their missions now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT:Something went wonky with the italics, but I'm fairly sure I fixed it.

"Natasha?" The name felt heavy and foreign on Zatanna's tongue. Weighted by falseness, lingering in her mouth like the taste of coffee. The name almost felt like a different language. And not like, a completely foreign language, But more like, Latin. Where it was almost sort of right, but not quite. 

Zee had worked on forming the name in her mouth correctly most of last night, in Hotel Rossii while she painted her nails a dark green tinted color. (She and Artemis ended up falling asleep together on one of the beds, reading magazines and gossiping, as you do, before a mission involving Russians and super-drugs.)

Roy was more than happy to take the bed left absent, rather than sleep on the couch that may or may not have a blood stain tucked under one of the off-white cushions.

"Hmm?" Artemis peered over at Zee, away from her view of the Russian sunset throwing shadows and highlights across the earth. 

"Are you nervous?" Zatanna asked, tapping her fingers lightly on the small gap of black leather seating in between them. The interior of their limo smelled really new. Like it had just been driven off of a dealership. Which knowing Batman's general spending habits, it might have been. The scent offset and muted the sweet, fresh smell of Artemis's soap. (Or maybe it was perfume?)

"Nah, I know you've got my back if anything goes wrong. And Ro--er, Sasha will get us out safe if we both get in a jam." Artemis flashed her a confident smile, sliding her hand over Zatanna's and rubbing her thumb along an old thin scar across one of Zee's knuckles.

Zatanna was surprised when this small gesture actually made her feel better, settling the churning feeling in her chest thankfully. The doubt wasn't all gone, but it was definitely dulled and blurred by the warmth of Artemis's hand. 

"Yeah, You're right." Zatanna nodded after a few sweet moments of enjoying the sensation, the soft sound of the chauffeurs radio filling all of the little silences between their conversation.

"Aren't I always?" The sandy-haired archer smirked, radiating confidence and a bit of posh smugness. Not the same sort of cockiness Kid Flash gave off in choking waves whenever he tried to 'woo the ladies', but an almost _genuine_ narcissism. It was both appealing and intimidating at the same time. "The answer is 'yes, always. You're the greatest'."

Zatanna shot a semi-amused, semi-exasperated look at Artemis before noticing the large car toting them along was slowing down and turning. Her heart clenched in her chest as The Andreevich estate came into view. It was much larger than the white on blue diagrams Zatanna had examined just before they left had led her to believe. She chewed on her bottom lip as the car glided along the winding driveway, feeding right into the huge semi circle of the mansion.

Artemis squeezed her hand tenderly, seeming to sense Zee's sudden panic. 

" _Relax._ " She breathed, leaning closer to Zatanna as their car began to circle a round-a-bout in the driveway, an extravagant fountain in the center of it. "Everything will be just fine, I promise."

Zatanna locked her gaze with Artemis's, contemplating whether or not to believe her. _She promises?_ For some reason, she almost didn't have any _choice_ but to _believe_ her. 

"I know. I just don't want any of us getting hurt." She murmured, getting the same sort of buzzing jitters in her chest that she felt just before stepping on stage at a show.

The car doors opened before Artemis could reply with anymore optimistic reassurances. Two tall, lean men waited for them, in red valet uniforms, trimmed with gold. White gloved hands were held out for each of the girls.

Artemis glanced up at the boy on her side of the limo, before taking his out reached hand and using it to balance herself, stepping out of the car gracefully. Cold air hit her in a rush, ghosting over the snowy Siberian countryside that surrounded the mansion and hitting her like it knew she didn't belong there. A shiver ran up her spine and she was missing the warmth of the car, and Zee's hand, already. 

"May I lend you my coat, Miss?" The valet boy asked. He didn't look much older than her, probably 19 or 20 and surprisingly well shaven. His eyes were a swirl of sea green, shaded by dark brown hair sticking out jaggedly from under his red hat. 

"That won't be necessary. Thank you, though." Arty offered a genuine smile to the nice boy, who just nodded and went back to waiting for the rest of the guests in the cold. 

Artemis could see, or really more sense, that there was a small pistol tucked into his coat, pressed firmly to his stomach, making him tense away from it slightly. No one else would have noticed it, but honestly, if she hadn't, all of her years of training would have been a waste. It was sweet of him to offer his coat, but not smart to offer her his coat with a gun in it. She didn't think much of it. He was probably suppose to use it to scare away any unwanted party-crashers.

Her thoughts were cleared from her mind when she felt Zee's heated hand slip into hers, a welcomed substitute for gloves in this sub-zero weather. Artemis knew she was basically acting as Zatanna's security blanket, She always did whenever Zee's spidey-senses tingled, (Or more accurately, her witchy-bullshit-senses.), But it was nice having her in a constant system of touch, nevertheless.

"See any familiar faces yet?" Artemis asked, interlacing her finger's with Zee's as they walked up a few stone steps and into the foyer of The Andres' mansion.

"Nope, not yet." Zee replied, and Artemis could feel her straighten up her posture a bit, suddenly giving an air of superciliousness. The archer studied her dark haired companion from the corner of her eye, curious as to what caused this sudden change in demeanor. Her eyes flickered down to her slightly more _presented_ chest before snapping them back up to Zatanna's hot-shot expression.

Zatanna was a performer. That was _her thing_. For as long as she could remember, she'd be putting on shows. Whether it be for her stuffed animals in her bedroom or a huge auditorium overflowing with a cheering (and jeering) audience. To her, she was on stage right now.

 _This is just another performance._ Zee recited in her head. 

She glanced over to catch Arty curiously peering at her, clearly noticing the change. Zatanna simply flashed a coy smile, squeezing her hand firmly, which only seemed to feed the interest burning in the blonde girl's eyes. They ambled passed a group of bearded men discussing something passionately in Russian, as they handed their coats over to a few ushers.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Zee said suddenly, apparently having a 'Hel-lo Megan' moment when they entered the large Baroque style dining room, a multitude of smartly dressed Russians already there, chatting and _drinking_. "Simetra, Yor dna I kaeps Naissur." The sorceress murmured low enough that only Artemis and Roy could hear her.

"Why is she casting spells?" Roys gruff voice came over the comms hidden in their ears. He sounded odd at first, a little bit distorted and echoing. Even Artemis's brain took a second to adjust to being multilingual. (And Russian is very different from Vietnamese, btw, so woah.) "Why do I sound weird? What the fuck did she do?"

"We speak Russian now, shut up and deal with it." Artemis snapped.

"Anna!" A boisterous voice startled both of the murmuring girls, _shocking_ them when a tall (slightly taller than Artemis) sapphire eyed woman suddenly had her arms around Zatanna's waist, pulling her into a hug. 

It took Artemis quite a bit of reflex control to keep herself from pulling the knife hidden in her cleavage out and---well you can guess.

"Oh and I just love your dress!" The girl said as she leaned back and admired Zatanna's tight red cocktail dress. (One she'd conjured off of an image in a magazine last night.)

 _How could you not? She looks bangin'._ Artemis thought indifferently, eying Zatanna's _dress_ too. She berated herself suddenly for not recognizing the almost annoyingly animated woman talking to Zee, instantly. Artemis spent most of last night reading her bio! (And magazines, but not the point.)

"Thank you." Zatanna said, apparently rolling with the punches on this one. "Your necklace is absolutely gorgeous!"

"Aw, thanks. It's an _old family heirloom from my dad's side of the family._ " The snowy haired woman replied, lightly touching the glinting jewels at her throat, stressing a few of her words ever so slightly.

 _Old family heirloom...that means Dima.....from dad's side...thats west. Oh!_ Zatanna picked up the ques, glancing over to the west side of the large dining room, which was really more of an auditorium with tables and no entertainment on stage. 

"And Natasha! You look smashing in that dress! You must tell me where you got it, old friend." The woman suddenly turned her attention to Artemis, who was just _overjoyed_ to be under her scrutiny, really. She loves people. 

"Oh this old thing?" Artemis feigned modesty as she hugged (was forced into a hug with) the taller blonde. "Anna bought it for me a while ago. Isn't she sweet?" 

"Very!" The Russian agreed with a smile as they both leaned back, still keeping contact with each others arms, really playing up the 'Best friends who haven't seen each other in a while' act. "It looks like she's taken interest in the country."

 _Country....Country is either code for Dima or Adrian._ Artemis glanced over to see Zatanna making her way toward a inattentive looking Dima, who was conveniently lounging near a lavish refreshments table, decked out with Russian treats and pretentious beverage options.

"It would seem so." Artemis murmured, a twing of _something_ rolling through her chest briefly.

"Well enough about Anna, you've got to fill me in on the juiciest details of your life since I saw you last!" The blonde pressed, clearly trying to get Artemis back on track.

"Oh?" Artemis brought her attention back to the peppy women. She was pretty in a very conventional way. Pointed chin, nice nose, high cheekbones, sparkling eyes and defined eyebrows. She was the picture of Siberian Beauty. _She's 19, hardly older than you, yet she's already a elite spy. Get your life together, Arty._ "I doubt I've done anything that will compare to your adventures, Val!" Artemis beamed as her hands suddenly ended up in the Russian's hands. 

Valentina laughed, her soprano giggle cutting through the deep bass of the music humming out of the speakers all around the room. 

_The acoustics in here are great._ Artemis thought dully.

"Well I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that, won't we." Val smiled so cheerily that Artemis almost believed they'd been friends for years and she'd just forgotten. Val was a great actor, Artemis would give her that. "Come on, 'Tash, let's go meet and greet." 

Artemis didn't have much choice when Valentina pulled her in the direction of a large group of teenagers, ranging in ages from 13 to 21. 'Meeting and greeting' with them made Artemis long for her own friends.

_*_

"Yeah, She's dead."

"Insightful."

"Hey, I'm not the detective here, Grayson."

"I never would have guessed." Dick teased.

"Being a dickie is your thing, Dickie." Wally laughed.

"Just....look around for clues or something." Dick sighed. "And don't eat anything that you find." He added quickly.

 _How is he even still alive? He lives the life of a raccoon._ Robin thought as he leaned over the body of a skinny, gothic looking girl.

"Whatever."

_One puncture wound through the front of the skull. Not a bullet. Maybe a nail gun? _Dick calculated.__

_*_

"Do you have anything that doesn't have fish in it?" Kaldur looked up from scrutinizing his menu at a dark skinned waitress holding up a notepad to take his order.

"You're in New Orleans, Sir." She said like it was the weirdest thing she'd heard all day.

 

"Fair point." He said, slumping slightly. "I'll have a coffee and a few hush puppies to go."

_Wolf will be pleased..._

_*_

Gun fire filled Conner's ears. Every click of the trigger, every spark as the bullets left the barrels, every clink of the shells on the cement, every _thwunk_ of the bullets hitting the brick wall he was huddled behind.

"I can't believe we stopped watching Game of Thrones for this." M'gann murmured, crouched next to him. 

She stood straight up suddenly, a glowing green disc forming on her hand, deflecting the endless hail of bullets like they were marshmallows tossed by third graders. She lifted her other hand and the guns in the heavily tattooed gang member's hands lifted toward the sky in response.

"Conner, now." She said when the last straggler had let go of his gun.

_*_

"I thought this was suppose to be Alpha mission." Wally whined, 

"This is Alpha mission."

"WHERE ARE THE EXPLOSIONS, DICK, WHERE ARE THEY?" 

"Dude, we get to go raid the Venom warehouse as soon as we're sure its there." Dick reasoned, rubbing the bridge of his nose as they walked down a dark alley in smoggy Bejing. 

"Oh. Okay. That seems sensible." Wally admitted, rubbing the bag of his head. 

_*_

"And it was like, I have his virginity and he has my shoes. Where do we go from here?" A short brunette finished her story with a shrug. Everyone around her nodded and gave simple advice. Artemis forgot at some points that they were speaking Russian, not casting spells, despite the echo in their voices.

Artemis wasn't really paying attention though, her consideration was split between looking for any of the people on her target list and glancing over at Zatanna, grumbling under her breath when the magician touched Dima's arm or leaned closer to him. She could hear whenever she giggled or used that I'm-pretty-and-sweet-and-a-little-ditzy tone in her voice, over the comm, which made her skin crawl thinking about her using that on anyone other than her or Dick. (And sometimes Batman when she defended the Team's mission ethics.)

"Befriend, my ass." Artemis muttered when she had a moment away from the group of gossiping Russians.

" _We can all hear you._ " Roy stated plainly.

Artemis rolled her eyes, scrutinizing a man that resembled Santa a little too much for Artemis to be comfortable. His beard looked like he'd scooped up and arm full of virgin snow on his way in and somehow attached it to his chin, letting it rolling down his chest like marshmallow fluff.

Artemis snapped her gaze away when the not-Santa looked up at her. Awkward. Her eyes now examined an odd door curtained off by black fabric, tucked just barely out of sight behind a speaker. Well, out of sight to anyone who wasn't Artemis.

She could recall at a moment’s notice each entrance and exit, each security camera and guard station, each bedroom and bathroom, even which room the biggest piano was in, in this huge mansion, but she didn't remember that room being there. 

"I know, I noticed that room too." A deep voice said, suddenly next to her and _too close_. Artemis turned her head, surprised to find a handsome face already looking at her, grayish-blue eyes trained on her in a way that made her want to squirm. 

"Mmmm." Artemis hummed, turning her body toward him. She would have completely blown this tall-dark-and-handsome guy off if he wasn't on her target list.

"Hello." He said, the kind of sexy growly quality to his voice really not helping her comfort level. "I'm Feliks." He held out his hand.

 _Feliks Afanasievich, 18, 6'2, approximately 190 pounds, bastard son of Natalia Aleksandrovna and Boris Afanasievich. Only recently changed his name from Aleksandrovna to Afanasievich. Both parents are higher ups in the Siberian and Northern Russian crime syndicate. As of recently, his parents don't like each other, maybe because of Venom. Possible way to get him talking about Venom is to get him talking about his parents._ Artemis's mind filled in helpfully as she took his hand.

"I'm Natasha." Artemis smiled as she watched him lift her hand to his mouth and place a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. She could feel the light amount of stubble on his chin brush against her fingers and a blush start to form on her cheeks. 

_Remember, he broke his ribs on the left side recently in a 4-wheeling accident, they aren't healed completely and still fragile._ Her brain reassured her.

"Natasha. That's my mothers name. Or more of a nickname I suppose." Feliks said as he brought her hand back down. She noted that he didn't let go of it.

"Oh? Interesting. My mother always said it was the name of a strong woman." Artemis pushed a portion of her bangs behind her ear with her free hand, smiling sweetly at him, really playing up the interested-in-you-because-of-your- _personality_ act.

"Mhmm. My mother is...very strong." He looked like his thoughts were temporarily brought away from how Artemis's olive green dress hugged her curves perfectly. But of course, only for a mere second or two. "You, on the other hand, seem like the perfect mix of strength, intellectualism, great hair and class." 

 

" _Ooooo, someone taught Mr. Feliks how to compliment a woman._ " Roy commented, and Artemis could just imagine the smirk that went along with that quip.

Artemis gave her best giggle, letting a vivid blush paint itself onto her prominent cheekbones. (she was not thinking about this guy, mind you. He had a sort of....presence to him that put her on edge.)

 

"Aw, you're too kind, Feliks." Artemis beamed.

"A gentleman can never be too kind, Natasha." Feliks's smirk seemed to gleam in the low lighting of the dining---well more accurately, _banquet hall_. Artemis sort of felt like she was on the menu with how Feliks was eying her.

" _Careful, Arty, He's gonna tip his fedora and call you 'm'lady' soon. Be ready to swoon._ " Roy wisecracked.

"I hope not." Artemis said sweetly to the boy slowly inching his way closer to her personal space. It took a lot of will power not to laugh and then cut Roy down, but Arty managed it.

" _Roy, just because you got stuck being back up because Batman couldn't find any other use for you doesn't mean you can distract us from our mission._ " Zatanna riposted, apparently having found a moment away from Dima to engage in banter for Artemis.

Artemis stifled a laugh, resting her hand on Feliks arm to hide the slight flinch that rippled through her body. The Russian apparently took it as a green light to come closer to Artemis.

_Dammit, no._

"I assure you, my kindness knows no limit. Especially not for a woman as beautiful as you." Feliks smiled. 

"Feliks! You're making me blush." Artemis murmured to the dark haired boy, swatting at his shoulder lightly, smiling even though she felt all kinds of uncomfortable.

"I've noticed. It only adds to your beauty, Natasha." Feliks's smile grew sweeter and sweeter, but Artemis could still feel the almost predatory vibes coming off of him. Like she was an innocent fawn and he was a lion about to pounce on his pray. 

" _Artemis, He isn't priority. Don't you think you should be moving onto someone else?_ " Zatanna's voice suddenly came over the comm.

" _I smell jealousy._ " Roy's voice interjected.

" _You should probably take a shower then._ " Zatanna slammed.

" _You know what, I have feelings too, 'Tanna._ " Roy said, feigning hurt in his voice. It was so obviously false that Artemis and Zee rolled their eyes at the same time.

" _Don't call me that, Speedy._ " Zatanna shot back, clearly having none of his shit. Artemis hadn't ever heard her be so openly rude to someone. It was kind of weird to think about her being anything more than snarky.

" _Low blow._ " Roy replied simply.

The comms stayed relatively quiet for the next few moments. Zatanna sipped at her punch, glancing over at _Natasha_ every once in a while to make sure she was still there and not somewhere shady with Mr. I'm-a-gentleman.

Dima had been pulled away by some of his friends a few minutes ago, apologizing fiercely until he was out of sight. Zee still managed to get an invitation to a more _private_ party with him and a few of his friends in the indoor pool. (Which, if memory serves, was a few rooms away from Adrian's bedroom. Maybe a chance for snooping.)

Zee frowned slightly when she found her glass empty as she listened in on Artemis's conversation with Feliks, occasionally crinkling her nose and huffing loud enough that the comms would pick it up whenever something particularly cheesy slipped out of Felik's mouth.

"You don't look like your having a whole lot of fun, Anna." Valentina said as she approached the raven haired girl.

"Hm? Oh, no, I am." Zatanna insisted. "I was just thinking about a horror movie. You know. A girl gets hit on by a weird yet oddly charming guy at a party and then she gets sacrificed to Satan." 

Artemis let out a little puff of air which indicated that she was probably laughing at Zatanna in some capacity. Valentina on the other hand was giving her a weird look, tilting her head to one side.

"Cause and effect, I suppose." Val said slowly, taking the wine glass out of Zatanna's hand and refilling it with punch for her. (It was the snobbiest punch Zee had ever had. It was probably imported. From an island where virgins squeezed it from the fruit of gods. Or something like that.)

Abruptly, Zatanna remembered she was suppose to be executing a mission, not being the pissy, suspicious (not jealous) best friend with a problem with the creep trying to get grabby with _her_ best friend. 

"Hehe. Sorry, Val. That was weird. Uh, How are your dogs?" She asked, taking the glass back from the snowy haired Russian. She wasn't actually interested in Valentina's pets, the question was code for 'How are the objectives of our mission.' 

"Diana is doing well, but Taz might need to go to the vet. He's been acting strangely recently. Not pulling his sled properly." Val replied, of course more code. 

"I'm sorry to hear that. I thought I heard Taz go an invitation to that private dog show in December?" Zee sipped at the red liquid swishing around in her glass. 

"I guess he did. Well, maybe he won't need to go to the vet." 

"Perhaps not." Zatanna murmured, bringing her lips away from the rim of the glass, leaving traces of her lip gloss. 

"Good dog." Val smiled knowingly as she walked passed Zatanna, off to chat up some prominent figures, Zee was sure. 

Zatanna almost yelped when she felt the quick whip of Val's hand against her butt. 

_Hhhhokay. Now I feel like we're on a sport team. Is spying a sport? It feels like it should be._

She was shocked again when she felt someones cold hand on the bare skin of her back. 

"Dog show, hm?" A familiar voice crept into her ears, low and bored, with a slight rasp to it; intimidating yet attractive. Which pretty much sums up Artemis, all together, fairly well. 

"Mhm. Starts as soon as the Huskies leave the kennel." Zee said calmly, playing off her initial shock with a cool smile. "What happened to Mr. Gentleman?" She asked, becoming more interested in her drink than Artemis. 

"Mmm, I think he was planning on attending the show as well. Maybe we'll see him there." 

"One can only hope." _not._

Roy made a choking sound, which would have worried the two girls if he hadn't over played it so much. 

"Maybe he's actually dying." Artemis smirked down at Zee, melting the icy resistance the magician had attempted to establish when her hand slipped into Zee's. 

_Goddammit._

"One can only hope." Zatanna said again, less sarcastically this time as she bit back a smile. 

" _Sorry, I was just choking on the sexual tension. And I'm not even in the same building as you two._ " 

" _Hello?_ " 

" _Did you guys really....Are you really jeopardizing the mission just to ignore me?_ " " _That's kind of flattering._ " Roy sighed, shaking his head with a laugh. He assumed they'd turned their comms off, which wow, was rude, but also kind of endearing in the most frustrating way possible. 

Ever since he found out he was a clone, just a copy of a real boy, the Pinocchio of Lex Corp., He'd started finding everything 'kind of endearing.' 

Really stupid things too, like fighting with Artemis and yelling at Wally for stealing his food, Even the days when he walked into the cave and everyone was either fighting or making out. 

He shook off these weird _feely emotions_ and focused on finding the main security hub. It was suppose to be _around_ here somewhere, but it wasn't specifically marked, you know, being a _security_ hub and all. Roy ran his hand through his ginger hair, peering into each room he passed in the large Security station he was exploring. The entire building felt very clinical, like it could be a hospital if it had a few more dying people and IVs. The walls and floors were white and the doors were black, giving it an almost optical illusion sort of feel, despite the fact that it was, for lack of a better term, all there in black and white, no illusion about it. 

"Hey, You. Where the hell do you think your going?" A booming bass of a voice assaulted Roy's ear drums. He turned around on his heels to see a huge, bald white man, who looked like he could break Roy's neck by flexing his peck muscle slightly, staring at him. 

"You deaf? I said, where the _hell_ do you think your going?" The hulk of a man bellowed. 

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of Zatanna-Roy snark battling in this is perf and I wish it was sort of their canon relationship.


	8. Redefine what was at stake from the hindsight of a gun.

"Dude, It's right there! I can see sketchy packages! And some really beefy dudes. What more proof do you need?" Wally whined.

" _Bane._ " Robin breathed, peering through his binoculars into a large warehouse from his position flat-bellied on a neighboring warehouse roof.

Wally let out a loud puff of air, flopping onto his back to stare up at the sky.

"Lame." He growled, running his gloved fingers through wind struck ginger hair.

_*_

"Aqualad to Batman."

"I read you, Aqualad."

"Wolf and I haven't found any sign of Venom or Bane in this sector. Should we execute phase two of our mission?"

"If you are sure there isn't Venom there, yes."

"Roger. Aqualad out."

_*_

"DURR NO." M'gann breathed in horror.

"DROGO NO." Conner stared at the screen in disbelief.

 

"DAENERYS NO!" They shouted in unison.

 

"Wait...what is she...is she burning him?" Conner looked at M'gann, brow crinkling.

 

"And Durr apparently?" M'gann answered, hardly able to tear her gaze away from the TV set.

 

"DRAGONS."

"DROGON. THAT'S...OH MY GOD."

"I'LL NAME A DRAGON AFTER YOU IF YOU EVER DIE."

"I LOVE YOU."

_*_

"Hello, Ladies!" A familiar face greeted Artemis's eyes, leaned against a metal door frame, dressed in blue swim trunks and a smirk.

"Hey, Jora." Valentina said with a new found smugness replacing the pep that had just started growing on Artemis.

"Hey there, Val." Jora replied, a smile playing across his sharp features, a knowing look in his deep brown eyes.

_Georgiy Vladislavo, Or Jora for short. 19, one of Dima's closest friends, (apparently pretty close with Valentina, too.) Ward of Abram Savelievich, Dima's father's best friend and fellow (possible) Venom dealer. Jora is high up on the list of people of interest. Although it would seem Val's already plenty interested._

Zatanna and Artemis slipped passed Val and Jora, who were now too involved in their bantering to pay much attention to them.

"Natasha, Anna! Glad you could make it." A cool voice called from the blue-tinted water of the indoor pool. (Freaking rich people.)

"Why don't you two beauties indulge the birthday boy and sit by the pool with us." The familiar deep, growly intonations of a voice reached Artemis's ears just as she caught sight of Feliks and Dima, leaning on the edge of the pool.

Despite not particularly wanting to 'indulge the birthday boy', Artemis happily kicked her heels off, enjoying the feeling of the cool pavement on her sore feet. Zatanna shoes were soon discarded too and the two of them had their feet in the water and smiles on their faces in moments.

_*_

"Yeah, we didn't find any Venom, but we did find a lot of goons with guns probably off to pick up Venom." Conner summed up.

"And you apprehended some of these 'goons'?" Batman's image asked.

"Yes, sir." Conner answered, his eyes flickering between the screen that projected Batman's face and the screen that Tyrion was calling Joffrey a half-wit on.

"Good job, Superboy. You and Miss. Martian can return to The Cave now." Batman said before the screen flashed dark and he disappeared.

"Did Dany get out of the Red Waste?" He asked as he all but ran back to the couch M'gann was lounging on in front of a large TV screen flashing with action.

_*_

"Piggyback rides are your preferred mode of transportation, don't lie." Wally grinned as Robin jumped off his back, brushing himself off indignantly.

"Shut it, KF." Dick grumbled as he wrenched open a powerbox. " _lights out._ " He murmured with a smirk as he flipped a few of the breakers.

_*_

"Hahaha, Oh Dima, You're hilarious!" Zatanna fawned over the blue eyed boy lounging next to her thighs, just tall enough to touch the bottom of the pool.

"And you're gorgeous." Dima shot back, smiling lazily, water dripping down the sides of his face.

Zatanna's fingers tapped lightly on Artemis's hand, just barely behind their backs, keeping the contact they'd managed throughout the entire night.

Zee could tell whenever Artemis got uncomfortable or annoyed because her fingers would tense, like she was ready to pull an arrow out of the quiver she wasn't wearing.

"Get a room, you two." Feliks joked, his eyes flashing up to Artemis's as if she'd somehow find that entertaining. She faked a light laugh, beaming at Feliks.

"Well before anything exciting happens, Anna and I are going to go freshen up real fast." Artemis said suddenly, pulling her feet out of the cool water.

Zatanna peered up at Artemis questioningly, her eyebrows raising. She didn't fight Arty when she tugged her to her feet and out of the pool room, ignoring the weird look Val was sending their way.

"Ar--Er, Natasha, what are you doing?" Zee asked as soon as they were several feet down a warmly lit hallway.

"Exploring." Artemis replied cryptically. She tried to pull Zee down another hall, but to no avail. Zatanna put her foot down, literally, putting a hand on her hip.

"Hey, slow down and talk to me." Zatanna pleaded, some how still sounding demanding despite her soft tone, keeping a tight grip on Artemis's hand.

"I just needed some air, Z--Anna. Besides, this is a good opportunity to snoop." Arty replied, meeting Zee's blue eyed gaze for a few moments. It wasn't enough. Artemis had hardly made eye contact with her for the past hour and Zee was left craving it.

"Adrian's bedroom is just down this hall, isn't it?" Zatanna asked, matching her stride with Artemis's as they continued trailing watery foot prints down the carpeted hall.

"Mhm." Artemis nodded. "This one, I think." She pointed a tan finger at a lavishly decorated door.

_*_

"Is that what all of your performance are like?" Artemis asked as they slid into the vinyl booths of a small diner. It was nothing like the Denny's they'd been lounging around in just before the show, It felt more like they'd stepped into the 1950's, complete with a checkered floor, Elvis's greatest hits and red vinyl booths.

"Pretty much. The ones with my dad were always so much crazier. The crowd would go wild over every little thing he did." Zatanna smiled, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. Her smile slowly faded and Artemis could tell exactly where her mind was going.

"Well, from where I was sitting, the audience couldn't get enough of you." Artemis said, catching Zatanna's gaze and giving her a reassuring smile.

Zatanna returned the smile, shaking herself out of the stupor thoughts of her father often put her in.

" _You_ can't get enough of me and we hang out way too much, so." Zatanna's smile turned coy. Artemis just rolled her eyes, glad to see it was taking her less time to switch from 'sad-about-dad' to 'snark-and-'innocent'-best-friend-teasing.' mode. Artemis decided not to bring up their 3 week break.

A bored looking waitress arrived at their table, wearing a faded red gingham dress with a white apron tied around her waist and holding up a notepad. She looked like she was circa-1950s as well, with grey wavy hair falling down her back in a loose ponytail and wrinkled skin.

"What can I get you two young ladies?" She asked, her tone sounding a little more entertained than she looked.

"I'll have a coffee, sweet and light please." Zatanna said with a friendly smile.

Sometimes Artemis tried to recall the first time she'd met Zee, tried to remember if she used that same smile on her or not. She remembered Zatanna instantly taking to the team, Robin being a total dork and getting all over her, and her suggesting that they 'kidnap' her.

'Kidnapping' her had become a joke among the entire team. A silly throwback to her first mission. Sometimes Artemis would forget that the entire world wasn't in on their inside joke, which resulted in Arty and Kaldur almost getting arrested once.

"I'll have that too." Artemis said, her eyes flickering up from Zee to the waitress. The waitress nodded and disappeared behind the counter of the bar. "Oh, they have shakes here. I should have gotten one of those." Artemis commented, more to herself then Zatanna. Zee laughed anyways.

"So are you going to admit you missed me yet, or what?" Zatanna said suddenly. "It's really starting to hurt my ego, Arty."

"Your ego seems pretty untouchable, Zee." Artemis evaded.

"Looks can be deceiving." Zatanna commented, sliding her foot forward, under the table, and in between Artemis's ankles. "Come on, you know you did."

"If I say I did, will you stop harassing me about it." Artemis asked, not phased by the sudden contact.

" _Admit_ , You mean." Zatanna pressed.

"Sure, whatever you say, Zee." Arty replied. "I guess I missed you."

"That wasn't very heartfelt." Zatanna teased, pressing her other foot against Artemis's.

"You're enjoying this a little too much." Artemis grumbled, crossing her arms. " _You're_ the one who disappeared, not me."

"Ah, Yes, but I'll gladly admit that I missed you." Zatanna smiled.

_Dammit._

Artemis pressed her lips together into a thin line before letting out an exasperated puff of air.

"Fine, fine, I missed you. Happy?"

"For now." Zatanna's smile turned into a satisfied smirk.

Sometimes Artemis wondered why they were friends.

 _Because you love her_. Artemis's brain supplied helpfully.

The waitress, the name tag on her chest reading _'CHERLYN'_ , returned with their coffees, setting them down in front of each of the girls. The scented steam floated up from the cup and passed Arty's nose. She shivered a little, her attention being torn from Zee to the creamy colored beverage.

 

By the time their cups were almost empty and they'd both ended up in the same booth, Arty's legs across Zee's lap and one of Zatanna's hands between her knees, they'd filled each other in completely on their lives the past 3 weeks and gossiped about just about every member of The Team (and The League) and a few celebrities.

"We should probably get to The Cave." Artemis commented after she swallowed the last sip of her coffee. She freed Zee's hand and pulled her legs off her lap with a small groan.

"Yeah." Zatanna sighed, not completely thrilled about having to leave this little bubble of friendship and Elvis music. She'd honestly missed Artemis a lot. More than she'd ever actually admit. "I have to do something before, but I'll meet you there." She said as she heaved herself up out of the booth.

Artemis gave her a questioning look, standing up in front of her. She wasn't going to ask about it, most of the time, if Zee was vague about something, she probably didn't want to be asked about it.

"Okay, babe." Arty smiled. "But I will be telling The Team about how bad ass you were tonight."

Artemis was a little startle when Zee's arms were suddenly around her waist, her nose nuzzling into her shoulder. Artemis carefully slid her arms around the shorter girls shoulders, a little unsure of what initiated the sudden embrace.

"You're not dying, are you?" Artemis asked, leaning her head against Zee's.

Zatanna let out a breathy laugh against Artemis's shoulder, which wasn't really as reassuring as she might have meant it to be.

"No, I'm not dying." Zatanna replied, tightening her grip around her waist.

"Good."

Eventually they let go of each other.

"You two still need to pay." A voice from behind the counter called.


	9. Ruh Roh, Raggy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be really short, just to keep ya'll sated while I get some plot loosely established. Pft. Hopefully this chapter is a little better written than the last one, since I've actually slept in that past 24 hours.

"Note to self:" Artemis's husky voice said from the dark recesses of Adrian's closet. A few grunts and annoyed growls clued Zatanna into the fact that the archer was struggling as she searched the wardrobe. "Wear clothes suitable for Espionage-ing. This is just getting really uncomfortable."

"Yps sehtolc." Zatanna flicked a finger in the direction of the closet.

"Did you say someth---Wait. Wha--Oh. Okay." Artemis stumbled back out of the closet, sporting a new outfit entirely. Her clingy olive green dress had been replaced by head to toe tight black clothing and a pistol strapped to her upper thigh. "...Should I be worried that you can change my clothes whenever you want?"

Zatanna flashed a playful smile, (which really did not put Artemis's mind at ease), and continued rummaging through the drawers and shelves littered around Adrian's bedroom.

"That wasn't very reassuring, Zee."

" _Anna._ " Zatanna rebuked, examining a small collection of cufflinks on top of a huge antique dresser.

"What are we even looking for, _Anna_ _?_ " Artemis asked, adjusting the gun on her thigh, the weight of it feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"I don't know. Evidence, I guess. Anything that connects Dima's dad to Venom." Zee replied.

Artemis's eyebrows raised on her forehead. _Dima's dad? That an awfully warm title for someone we're trying send to prison._

"Just...Think Russian and I'm sure we'll find whatever Mr. Andreevich might be hiding around here." Zee added, pretending not to notice Artemis's interest in her phrasing.

"Yes, Master." Artemis muttered softly under her breath.

"That's what I like to hear." Zatanna commented, knelt down next to Adrian's bed, searching between the mattresses.

"I don't need to know about your sadistic fantasies, Zee." Artemis quipped.

" _Anna._ " Zat _anna_ shot back.

Artemis let out a agitated puff of air.  _Anna Anna Anna._

Grey eyes explored the spacious expanse of hardwood floors and white walls, accented with golden vines imbedded in the walls, reaching up toward the high ceiling. She scrutinized every detail of the room, from the tasteful bouquet of white roses resting on one of the bedside tables to gorgeous cherub mural stretched across the ceiling.

"This guy has got to hook me up with his interior decorator." Artemis joked. A breathy laugh from behind her put a smile on her face.

 _Wait, Focus.Think_ _Russian._ "Borsch...Vodka...." She mumbled to herself as she turned in a circle. "Muscular Women....Frozen Tundra.....Velvet Boxes!" Her eyes landed on an almost iridescent blue box tucked behind a mirror sitting on Adrian's dresser, a beautifully engraved brass latch keeping it closed. 

Zatanna's gloved hand was already on the box by the time Artemis had crossed the room.

"Where did those come from?" Arty asked with a tilt of her head, gesturing toward the magicians gloves.

"I never leave home without 'em." She smiled. Her thumb pressed against the metal of the latch, flicking it open.

The door behind them was flung open, hitting the wall with an impressive _QWACK._

"Don't fucking move."

 _Shit._ The girls thought in unison.


	10. Jinkies.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting real.

"Don't fucking move!" A voice rang out. Louder than the door slamming into the wall. Louder than Artemis's heart beating in her ears. Louder than Zee's shocked gasp for air.

"Is what I would have said if I were one of Andreevich's guards doing his rounds and finding you two loitering in his boss's bedroom." The voice was suddenly silvery and familiar.

" _Fuck_." Zatanna let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, letting go of Artemis's hand that neither of them had noticed she seized.

"I know you two are amateurs, but really?"

Zatanna and Artemis turned around in unison, so relieved to see the sharp featured face of Valentina rather than a brutish features of any one of Andreevich's guards.(Seriously, he seemed to only hire guys that looked like really angry Bodybuilders.) Embarrassment flooded into Artemis's body, leaving a flush on her cheeks and an unpleasant feeling ringing in her stomach, like she'd just gotten caught by her mother with her hand in a cookie jar. 

_First espionage mission---first real solo mission with Zee and you're already getting caught and reprimanded by a **real** spy. Good fucking job, Artemis._

Artemis really didn't need her own berating, but obviously, Val was just going to stand there, arms crossed over her white dress and a really disappointed look on her pretty face, so.

"Before you tell Batman...You might want to take a look at this." Zee piped up from next to Arty, holding the blue velvet box they'd been examining earlier out in front of her.

Valentina peered into it, raising her a tawny eyebrows. If she had been a cartoon character in that moment, her jaw would have dropped through the floor.

"No way." She said incredulously.

"Read it and weep, Val." Zatanna said confidently, producing what looked like a letter and holding it out to Val.

Valentina unceremoniously snatched up the letter, opening it like it was a letter telling her whether or not her son was returning from war or that she'd won the lottery. The expression on her face was of pure and utter disbelief.

"No. Fucking. Way."

"Way." Zatanna laughed.

Artemis was so out of the loop it hurt.

_*_

"No, no, really, Boris, that isn't necessary." Roy's voice was thick and pleading as he waved his hands in front of his face.

"Sasha, I insist. You must eat another piece." A gravelly voice rolled out of a large bald man's mouth like thunder. Roy could see the blue veins bulging under the pale, tattooed skin of his arm as he pushed a plate toward him. The sugary confection seemed like the worst kind of fate to the undercover agent, staring him down, promising a frosting and sprinkle covered death. "When I heard we were getting a new guy, I had my wife make you a cake. You've got to eat the entire thing."

"Oh...Well that's...That was very nice of her, but I really should get back to patr--" The ginger attempted to stand up, only to be pulled back down into his chair.

"Don't worry! I told Ilya to cover your shift." Boris smiled.

_Think, Harper. You've got to get out of this._

" _Roy? Can you hear us?_ " Was he hearing angels? Calling him to heaven after he dies of a sugar overdose? 

" _Yo, Speedy, Where the hell are you? We've got trouble._ "

Nope, just Artemis and Zee finally turning their comms back on.

"Well, That was very nice of you, Boris, really really nice, but I have to call my _daughters_ and make sure their doing okay. Will you excuse me for a moment?"

"Oh...Yeah, sure. I'll just keep an eye on this cake for you, _Friend._ "

"Hehehe, thaaanks." Roy feigned a smile, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up.

The archer all but ran out of the small break room and back into the brightly lit hallway, squinting against the glaring lights.

"Where the fuck have you two been? I've been getting ungodly amounts of Cake stuffed down my throat for the past hour by a very needy, very big Russian bodybuilder named Boris." Roy spat.

" _Cake? Is that the slang word you kids are using now a days?_ " The low, raspy intonations of Artemis's voice tumbled into Roy's ears, weirdly a welcomed change to the boom of Boris's.

" _I guess so. Weird, you'd think it'd be something a little more obvious, like sausage, or breadstick._ " The high timbre of Zatanna's voice followed after Artemis's in stark contrast. Their voices mixed together into a chorus of airy vocalizations as they laughed.

"Cool, you two are still dancing around your own sexual desires by projecting homosexuality onto me, great." Roy shot back angrily. "You said something about trouble?"

" _Yeah. Queen Bee sort of trouble._ " Artemis said.

" _We found a picture of her in Adrian's room._ " Zee added.

" _And a love letter that mentioned Venom trade._ " Arty continued, their footstep coming over the comm too. They must have been walking somewhere.

"Who talks about drugs in a love letter?" Roy asked, glancing into the window of the room where Boris was patiently waiting. The huge man turned his head and caught sight of Roy, smiling widely and waving. Roy awkwardly waved back before peering down the hall.

" _Queen Bee and Adrian apparently. Their affair has been going on for months,"_ Zatanna replied.

 _"and it's pretty clear she's using him to get more Venom into the country._ " Artemis finished.

"Why? And what's up with this weird finishing each others sentences bullshit? Did you two fuck or something?"

" _You wish. And we don't know. We're guessing she has some sort of deal with Bane, but we aren't sure._ " Arty said.

"Okay, so what's your plan?" Roy squinted at the room at the very end of the hallway. It looked security hub-ish.

" _Well, It seems like our mission to get information out of the boys is kind of obsolete at this point...._ " Zee pointed out.

" _So we're thinking we'll just go with plan B._ " Artemis said.

"And Plan B is?"

" _Kidnap Adrian and hope we don't get shot._ " Did they say that in unison or was Roy's brain just fucking up.

"Sounds like fun. I have to do one more thing, but I'll meet you west wing piano room in 20."

" _Roger that._ "

_*_

Smoke wafted off of their clothes in shimmering waves. Soot covered faces looked grimly upon a scene of ash and fire. Their skin showed through rips and slashed in their clothing. Eyes met, deep blue clashing with cool green like the colors of the sea.

"Batman won't be happy."

Spontaneous laughter cut through the smokey air and tired bodies pressed together in a warm hug.

"Dude, where'd my glove go?"

_*_

"Sir, I've spotted Bane. Do you wish me to proceed with the final phase of my mission?"

"Are you sure its him, Aqualad?"

"Yes, Batman, I am sure."

"Then execute the last phase. Good luck...Kaldur."

"Thank you, sir."

_*_

"Really Boris. It's not you, it's me." Roy finished, setting his hands down carefully on the table in front of him.

"Sasha, can I admit something?"

"Sure."

"My wife didn't make the cake, I did. I don't have a wife. I just...I just wanted a friend."

A slight pang of guilt rang through Roy's body, hitting his heart sharply. It was the weirdest thing, feeling sorry for this gigantic Russian man, but...Roy did feel sorry for him.

"It was very nice of you. Hey, you know what, even though I'm quitting, I really did enjoy becoming your friend." Roy said.

"Really?" The expression on the man's (that eerily resembled Mr. Clean) face lightened and a smile cracked across his features. "That means a lot to me, Sasha."

"I'm glad."

" _Gaaaaaayyy._ " Artemis whispered into her comm. Roy would have rolled his eyes if he was so busy trying to console this mammoth of a man.

"Anyway, I've got to go. Catch you later, Boris. And uh, Sorry."

"Sorry?"

Roy lifted a gun, aiming it at Boris's neck and fired.

Boris's head hit the table hard enough to make Roy flinch.

"Sleep it off, buddy." Roy said as he plucked the tranquilizer dart out of the huge mans neck. It would probably only keep a guy like him out for half an hour or so, but that should be enough time.

_*_

"What are we going to do when Jora and the others come looking for us?" Artemis asked as she and her fellow agents made their way down a warmly lit hallway.

"Hopefully they'll think we just went home or something." Zee said as she flipped through the small glowing screen on her wrist. She'd conjured it based off the glove apparatus Robin had. (It might actually be Robin's and she just transported it to herself, she wasn't sure.) "The tracker you planted on Adrian says he's.....Still in the banquet hall."

"He's a very social man." Val commented.

"How do you propose we get him somewhere more private?" Artemis asked, pulling her hair back into it's normal ponytail, rather than the 'glamorous bun' of loose wavy strands of gold it had been in most of the night.

"I could conjure an illusion of a women...lure him with imaginary feminine wiles." Zatanna suggested, the screen on her wrist disappearing back into the glove bulking up her small hand. (Sometimes they wondered if Robin wore such bulky gloves to compensate for having such small hands or....)

"I think he's fairly 'committed' to Queen Bee, maybe we could...... _use Dima_." Val suggested, a smile spreading across her face as a plan formed in her head.

_*_

" _Hhhh, that's really cold._ "

" _It was this or real, warm blood._ "

" _Okay_ _, but you could have warmed this stuff up or something._ "

" _I asked for fake blood, The powers that be gave me **cold** fake blood. If you wanted **warm** fake blood, you should have told me earlier. Now hold still!"_

" _No, Don't put it there!"_ A loud gasp distracted Roy's attention away from the glowing computer screens in front of him. " _Ugh, you just love torturing me._ "

"There's probably a 99% chance I don't want to know what you two are doing to each other, but I'm going to ask anyway. What the hell are you two doing?"

" _It was Val's_ idea." Zee's voice said.

"So, you're taking time out of the mission to....feel each other up with blood? And then shoot a murder por--?"

" _No, you pervert._ " Artemis's gruff voice growled into the comm, cutting Roy off. " _You better hurry up, we're going to be in the Piano Room in less than 8 minutes."_

"I'm leaving now." Roy said as he slipped a thumb drive into the pocket of his suit.

 _"Get ready for a show._ " Roy could hear the smile in Zatanna's voice.

"I'm as jittery as a virgin on prom night."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter/maybe the one after is going to be the last for this series.


	11. Spoo.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get really real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is the last one, yo.

Bare feet hit the thick carpets of ardently lit hallways. Black hair whipped past framed family pictures and beautiful murals. Blood covered fingers pried a metal door open, chest heaving rapidly, trying to get enough air to put out the fire burning in her lungs.

"Dima!" A brittle voice screamed as bare knees sank to the cool pavement of the pool room.

"Anna?" Shocked faces turned to the sobbing form of one of the girls who'd disappeared almost an hour ago. 

Dima pushed himself out of the water and onto the pavement with one motion, springing forward on his toes until he was at Zatanna's side.

Zatanna felt large, wet arms wrap around her shaking shoulders, trying to steady her. She only sobbed harder, sounds escaping her throat as her body convulsed slightly.

"We didn't...didn't...m-m-mean to!" She weeped, hiding her face in Dima's shoulder. He was much warmer than she expected, even with the dampness clinging to his skin, he was keeping her warm. Her nose was pressed to the hardness of his collar bone, so close that she could feel his heartbeat even as her sobs filled the air around them.

"Didn't mean to do what? Oh god, is this--is this blood?" Dima stuttered, his hands had slid through the blood that stained the side of Zee's dress. Jora and Feliks stared on in slack-jawed horror, but didn't call for help or even try to run away. They just stared and waited for an indication of what to do.

"N-Natasha..Sh-She fell. We---we were ju-just pla-playing around and s-she fell. Oh, Dima, you have to h-help me." Zatanna cried, staring up at Dima with her best I'm-pretty-and-scared look. The blood smeared across one of her cheeks contrasted drastically against her light skin, dark lashes and blue eyes. Some how it made her even prettier. In a main-heroine-from-a-horror-movie sort of way.

"Don't worry, Anna. Whatever happened...I'll fix it, I promise." Dima said, hardly taking a beat to think about whatever he was promising her..

_*_

"Wow, I wish you could hear this Val. She is _selling it_ to him." Artemis laughed, listening to the sobbing and whimpering coming through the comm.

"She's an actress isn't she?" Valentina asked, tossing her hair behind her shoulder as she splattered more fake blood across the floor, staining the no-doubt-antique carpets. "She's got the face for it."

"Stage magician." Arty corrected. "And that's a bit much, don't you think?" Artemis commented with a raise of her eyebrow. The faux blood was dripping of the side of a table into a large puddle on the floor below, looking like a scene out of bad 90's horror movie.

"Well, the story is you were dancing on that piano, Right? And then you fell and hit your head on this table. I'm sure you've got this much blood in your head." Val reasoned as she hid the small pail of blood behind a curtain.

"Whatever, I doubt they'll measure it out and be like 'no. That is waaaayyy to much blood.'." Artemis joked with a shrug and a laugh.

"Hurry it up, Babe. We're all set over here." The archer said as she turned away from Val who was now smearing blood on her hands, knees and parts of her face.

" _Dima, p-please. Valentina's still in there...just crying._ " Zatanna whimpered over the comm.

" _Don't worry, Anna. We'll take care of all of this mess. Won't we, boys?"_ Dima's voice said.

Artemis's eyebrow twitched. He was close enough to be picked up by the comm... _close enough to Zee_ to be picked up by the comm.

" _We were in the Piano R-Room."_ Zatanna told Dima. " _The one in the West Wing._ "

"They're on their way." Artemis reported to Val over her shoulder.

"Well, get in place. The shows about to begin." Valentina's mouth cracked into a mischievous smile. No one should ever look that excited to fake someones death.

_*_

Roy watched from above, concealed in one of the balconies overlooking the piano room, glad to have the familiar weight of his quiver on his back and a mask on his face again.

He laid flat on the ground, waiting for Dima and _'Anna_ _'_ to arrive at the 'crime scene' played out in the huge chandelier-lit room below.

Artemis's body was on the floor next to a huge grand piano, her long blonde hair strewn out around her head in what almost looked like a blood-soaked halo. Blood stained her golden tresses, seeping through it in a really disturbing way that almost turned Roy's stomach.(The way bad 90's movies do, though.)

Valentina was knelt down next to the her, white dressed smeared with blood, choked sobs racking through her body, threatening to throw her into the pool of blood and hair.

"Oh my god." Dima whispered when he burst into the room, followed closely by a still weeping Zatanna and two terrified looking boys.

"Jora!" Val whimpered out, bright sapphire eyes welling with tears. A lanky, slender built boy, whom Roy assumed was Jora, careened into the room, soon finding himself at Valentina's side, hushing her and trying to pull her away from the 'dead body.'

How Artemis stayed so perfectly still through the entire ordeal was really impressive. She didn't flinch or twitch even once. Not even when Zatanna and Val sobbed in unison, clinging to their mutual Idiots-in-shining-armour. Roy struggled to even see her chest rise, even a little bit. Artemis's _death faking skills were really impressive._ Roy wondered if they'd come in _handy in the future._

"Dima, You have to get your dad, he'll know what to do." Val said breathlessly, arms wrapped around Jora's shoulders as if she was liable to pass out at any moment.

"No. I can handle this on my own." Dima insisted.

 _Idiot. No you can't. Do as the smart girl says._ Roy hissed in his head, watching the dark haired boy try to gain some control in this situation.

"Dima. Please." Zatanna whined, looking up at him, tilting her head ever so slightly. She looked so insanely attractive that Roy was not at all surprised when Dima's resolve crumbled in seconds and he nodded.

 _Good man. Now go get daddy like a good little boy._ Roy mocked in his mind as he watched from his perch.

_*_

Dima's legs carried him out into the banquet hall, pushing past groups of people having conversations or trying to wish him a happy birthday. He completely disregarded the fact that he was still only wearing a pair of swim trunks, and his hair was sticking to his forehead, matted down by either water or sweat, he didn't know.

"Father." He said, grasping the arm of a well tailored suit. He felt like he was 5 again. Interrupting his fathers affairs because he, or one of his friends had broken something. He also felt like 5 was so long ago, now. 'Like a lifetime ago' as some would say. Just this morning felt like a lifetime ago after what he just witnessed.

"Dmitriy? Son, where is your clothing?" Adrian shook his head. "Clean yourself up, we are entertaining guests! Have I taught you nothing?" He scolded.

"Father. I need your help." He stepped closer to Adrian and opened his palm, blood painted vividly across his palm. Adrian put his hand over it and glanced around, making sure no one had seen.

"What did you do?" Adrian growled.

_*_

"And then sh-she fell off and hit her head." Valentina sobbed.

Adrian stared at the body lying limply on the floor, blood staining his previously immaculate carpets. He shoved his hand into his pocket and produced a phone, unlocking the screen with a swift movement of his thumb.

"I'll clean this up. Dmitriy, take your friends somewhere else. Do whatever you have to to....ease their minds." Mr. Andreevich said, a no-nonsense sort of tone to his voice.

" _Are you two ready?_ " Roy whispered, reaching behind his head, feeling for a stun arrow.

Zatanna nodded softly and...Well Artemis just laid there.

Roy slid the shaft of the arrow into the arrow rest of his bow and took aim, pulling the string back and steadying his breathing.

"Arrow incoming in 3....2....1"

_THWUNK._

The arrow hit Adrian square in the chest, knocking the phone out of his fingers. He stumbled backwards a few steps before falling to the floor in an unceremonious pile.

"DAD!" Dima shouted, letting go of Zatanna and skittering over to his father.

Another arrow zipped through the air, splitting the air next to Zatanna's ear, hitting Jora in the chest with another pronounced _thwunk_. Val slowed down the confused Russian's fall, slowly laying him out onto the floor. Dima looked around himself in horror, crouched over his fathers body protectively, confusing and panic distorting his features.

Artemis seemingly rising from the dead probably didn't help his chill level, honestly. He stared in disbelief, starting to look like a scared wild animal, as she sat up, squeezing some of the blood out of her hair.

"Og ot peels, Skilef. Tegrof siht reve deneppah." Zatanna said, her knees no longer weak and her tone no longer brittle. The sudden change would have been a bit jarring under normal circumstances, but right now, it terrified Dima. He watched as his last remaining friend sank to his knees, eyes sliding shut as his head smacked against the floor.

"Oh...Oh god." Dima's hand delved into his fathers jacket. Artemis's eyes zeroed in on him, watching his hand pull a small pistol, the barrel of it long and silver, out of his incapacitated father's suit.

" _ROY!_ " Artemis shrieked as she ran toward Dima.

_BANG._

Another arrow sang through the air, hitting Dima's hand and disarming him. Artemis's hand came down on the back of his head with brutal force split seconds later, knocking him out cold.

_*_

 _The ceiling in this room is really pretty._ Zatanna thought. _It reminds me of dad's house. Not nearly as wonderful. I miss dad's house._

" ~~Zatanna!~~ "

_Hmm, what was that? It sounds so distant....It sounds familiar._

" ~~Zee! Zatanna!~~ "

Zatanna's view of  the ceiling was blocked by tan tear stained cheeks and blonde hair.

_Oh look, It's Artemis. Her eyes are so pretty. Like swirling storm clouds. Wait...Why is she crying....? She shouldn't be crying. The mission was going fairly well.... Why am I on the floor...? Wait...What was happening before this? I can't remember.....Jeeze, it's really cold in here. Where's Dima when you need him? .....Wait....Dima....Dima was...holding something...A gun. Did he fire it? Is that why I'm on the floor?_

" ~~Zee. Stay with me. You have to do something. A spell. Anything. Please.~~ " Artemis sobs sounded far away and echoing. Like she was on the other side of a wall in a very very large cathedral.

_A spell? Why? Ugh...I feel dizzy. Maybe I should just take a nap. I doubt Arty would mind carrying me home. Yeah, a nap sounds good._

" ~~Zatanna! Don't you dare close your eyes. Stay with me! I'll never forgive you if you _di_ _e li_ _ke_ _this."_~~ Roy's face popped into few now too, more concern creasing his brow than she'd ever seen before. Zatanna could feel the pressure change on her stomach, like he was leaning on her for some reason.

_Die? Why would I--It..It is getting kind of hard to breathe. Why are Artemis's hands wet? Is that blood? That can't be my blood....That's the fake blood...right....No...No...That makes sense. That's why I'm on the floor. Something happened..._

Time seemed to slow down, Artemis's tears fell on her in slow motion, Roy's distant speech sounded lower and more drawn out. 

_If I die here...Dad's sacrifice will be for nothing._ _.... I can't die here. I have to...I have to keep going...I don't have much time...I can..I can feel the world slipping through my fingers. Come on, Zee....Come on, Zee.....Come on, Zee. Before your lungs...before they fill with blood. Come on. Just a few words...Backwards...Child's play.  
_

"Laeh em."

_*_

"And for our final act! My lovely daughter Zatanna will do her first trick for an audience. You!" The pride in his voice rang through Zatanna's head, putting a spring in her step as she took off her top hat and trotted into center stage.

She showed the inside of the hat to the audience, just like Zatara had taught her, even tapping it with her wand with a cheeky smile.

Zee looked up at him, smiling widely with an overflowing amount of childish joy. He nodded approvingly and she went on with her trick, turning her attention back to the entertained spectators. She slipped her hand inside, beaming at the interested faces of the audience as she rummaged around the topper.

With a dramatic tug, she produced a large white rabbit, with pink eyes and a pink nose and a little cotton-ball tail.

The audience 'awwed' and clapped, filling Zatanna's little frame with an addicting buzz of happiness.

"You did splendidly, my little girl!" Zatara scooped Zatanna up in his arms and she giggled loudly, her hat slipping out of her clumsy fingers. It hit the stage floor with a soft pap.

Zatanna hardly noticed the flood of little cotton-tailed rabbits until it was far to late to try and force them back into her hat.

"Spoo?" She watched as they hopped all over the stage, all floppy ears and round fluffy bodies.

"Well, that's quite alright, Zatanna." Zatara's smile didn't cease, his sparkling green eyes looking at Zatanna with so much pride and love. "No matter how many times you make a mistake, you'll always be my daughter. And I'll always love you. Remember that."

"I love you too, Daddy." Zatanna said, wrapping her arms around Zataras neck. "I love you too."

_*_

" _No. It's safer for her to be here than in a hospital."_

_"It's been 2 days, Canary."_

_"I know. Don't worry. She's a powerful magician....and we have better equipment than the hospitals do."_

_"If she dies....If she keeps sleeping..."_

_"She won't. I promise. Everything is going to be fine."_

_"....Okay."_


	12. And for my final act....

"Time me."

"Go."

Zatanna struggled against the ropes and chains binding her, locks of her glossy black hair falling away from her face and toward the ground. She let as much air out of her chest as she could without passing out, giving her more slack against the straps binding her arms behind her back. She quickly dislocated one of her shoulders (Which made her audience of one wince visibly.) and freed it from its bindings. With an equally gruesome Crrapop!, her shoulder snapped back into place, her hand now free to pull a few latches and buckles open and free her other arm. Her feet were the easy part, bound at the ankles by rope that suspended the young magician upside down, it was not hanging herself with the chains wrapped around her neck in the process that was complicated.

Grey eyes stared on in interest and mild concern.

Zee's boots hit the floor with a surprisingly soft _pap pap_ , and she bowed dramatically, one hand sliding over her stomach as the other flared out next to her. "Ta-da." She smiled.

"35 seconds, your personal best."

"Mmmf. Lame. Scott Free could have done it in half that time." Zatanna straightened up, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe if I set the jacket on fire...." She tapped her chin.

"As exciting as that sounds, I'm just going to vote 'no' now." An olive skinned hand set a bright red stopwatch down on the dusty wood of a crate.

"No fun, Arty." Zee feigned a whine. Artemis rolled her eyes, pushing herself up onto her feet from where she'd been lounging. 

"Couldn't you just whisper some backwards words and be out in like, 2 seconds flat?" She asked as she took a few steps closer to the magician.

"Nope. That's cheating." Zee replied, picking up the discarded suit of straps, tarps and chains. "Now tie me back up."

"Kinky. And no, we have to get to the debriefing in...well right now." Artemis said, regarding the brightly colored _Flash_ watch on her wrist. (Wally gave it to her as a late birthday present.) "And...Zee?"

"Mhm?" she dropped the straps and chains into a pile on one of the crates, sure to be found later by someone else.

"Shouldn't you be taking it easy? I mean, you've only been back on your feet for a few days." Artemis said, her eyes flickering down to Zee's stomach. 

A fond huff of air pushed passed Zatanna's lips. She probably would have rolled her eyes too, but she was still a little dizzy from being upside down.

"Arty..." She said, using _that_ tone, the 'you're-worried-about-nothing,-stop-being-such-a-big-baby-even-if-it's-super-cute.' tone. She stepped closer to the blonde, grabbing her hand and pulling it toward her. "I'm fine, feel, there isn't even a bruise!" She guided Artemis's hand into her shirt, pressing it against the spot where the bullet had ripped through her body mere days ago.

Artemis tenderly ran her fingers over where there should be a bullet hole a few inches above her hip bone, probably where the coroner would examining when Zee's body ended up in the morgue. She sighed, ignoring the heat burning on the tips of her ears. 

"Okay, okay. I get it. You're magic." Artemis folded, pulling her hand back reluctantly. "Come on, we're going to be late for Batman's 'I'm-disappointed-but-not-because-you-saved-people,-good job.'-speech." She smiled, mimicking Batman's gravely tone.

_*_

_'Zatanna, B08'  
'Artemis, B07'_

"....Irresponsible, rash and completely against the assignments I gave all of you!" Batman's gruff voice continued.

Conner, M'gann, Kaldur, Wolf, Wally, Robin and Roy were already gathered in the briefing room of The Cave, heads down and shame heavy on their expressions, like children being scolded by their parent. Their parent in tights and a cape.

"And you two." Batman's masked eyes turned onto the two girls as they stepped out of the Zeta tubes. "Valentina took the liberty to fill me in on what you two did."

Batman had just gotten back from a mission of his own, so the entire Team had 4 days to mentally prepare themselves for a Dark-Knight-Is-Disappointed chat. Black Canary and Red Tornado had been pretty soft on them, only a few scolds and metaphorical slaps on the wrists. Seeing that Zee was temporarily out of commission for the better part of 3 days, she got it easiest of them all, but now it seemed she had no escape from the anger of Batman.

"You went completely off book, achieved less than 2 of your mission objectives and forced us into having to tamper with the minds of 3 very confused Russian teenagers." Batman growled. "You came up with a childish plan that I can only assume came from the mind of a stage performer," His eyes narrowed at Zee.

 _Try again, Batz._ Zee thought, her gaze not wavering away from Bruce's.

"And extracted a high ranking Russian drug lord without permission." Batman continued. "The only redeeming factor of your convoluted scheme is that you saved him from an assassination attempt."

_Wait. We did?_

"And despite all of your failure and blatant disobedience...You gathered valuable intell we wouldn't have gotten otherwise and saved a mans life. Good job, all three of you." His tone softened half way through his sentence and he regarded Roy briefly. "Good job, all of you. Minimal exposure, no civilian fatalities and all together, we put a huge dent in Venom production across the world. Congratulations." 

_*_

"No, And then Wally punched the guy in the face and said 'My Chicken Wizzees motherfucker.'" Robin laughed, doing his best Wally impression, making a 'come at me bro' gesture with his arms.

Everyone shared stories and giggles about their misadventures, revealing within the first hour that M'gann and Conner were attacked in their Australian hotel room by an angry Venom trafficker and some how ended up spending 5 hours watching Game of Thrones with him. Kaldur and Wolf squared off with Bane, only to get attacked by Dr. Light and almost killed by him, only to use him to destroy the largest Venom Warehouse they'd ever found. And Wally and Dick blew up a warehouse of their own and then spent a day in Bejing eating all of the street food they could buy. (Wally ended up with food poisoning.)

By the time they'd finished filling each other in and talking about their travels, it was late at night and they all had to return to their hometowns.

"See you all tomorrow." Zee and M'gann called as their friends departed.

_'Superboy, B04'_

__'Red Arrow, B06'_  
'Aqualad, B02.'_

_'Robin, B01'_

_'Kid Flash, B03'_

"Wait!" Zatanna sprung up onto her feet. "Artemis...." She slid to a stop next to the archer.

"No, Zee, I will not tie you up again or help you set yourself on fire or anything like that." Artemis crossed her arms.

"Dammit." Zee smiled. "I was actually wondering...do you want to stay the night? For like, a sleepover?"

Artemis raised her eyebrows, peering down at the blue-eyed magician, waiting for her to spring some 'And also let me saw you in half. Don't worry. I totally know how...Mostly' line on her. But Zatanna's mouth stayed closed in a beaming smile, oddly energetic for a girl that had a bullet rip through her abdomen less than 55 hours ago.

"Sure, Zee." Artemis said, still searching Zatanna's face for any sign of a catch.

"Great!"

_*_

"I should have been quicker, Zatanna. I'm sorry." A guilty archer held the limp hand of an incapacitated magician in both of theirs, leaning their head against it. "It was my job to protect you. You can beat me up when you wake up, okay?"

Blue eyes peered up at the pale--too pale, face of Zatanna, wishing she'd smile, or even frown. Just anything. It'd been a full 24 hours and she hadn't shown any improvement. The X-rays (or rather, Supermans X-ray vision.) showed that the bullet wasn't in her body anymore and all of her internal damage had healed. Even the tear through her liver. There wasn't even bruising on her body. No physical trace that's she'd actually ever been shot.

"Just...wake up. Please. Artemis will kill me, track down the real Roy Harper and kill him too if you stay this way much longer..." Roy laughed a little, but it was humorless, smileless. A 2-dimensional offer of what a real boy might have done.

"Roy..."

_Was that...no...no, don't kid yourself, Harper,  it doesn't even sound like Zee._

"I'm having a moment, here." Roy grumbled, letting go of Zatanna hand and turning around. "What do you want, Canary?"

Black Canary cocked a hip, putting a hand on it in that _I will beat you up if I need to_ sort of way.

"Sorry. What's up?" Roy tried.

"The thumb drive you had...Batman went through the files....There's something you need to know about Adrian Andreevich."

_*_

"But really, the King of Sweden is the only person who matters."

"Agreed. Any man who can lead a country and wear hats like that deserves respect."

Zatanna laughed, her head leaning back, off the edge of her bed as she thumbed through the glossy pages of a magazine.

"Hey, Arty..."

"No, I will not tie you up again, it's not going to happen. No."

"You don't even now what I was going to say." Zatanna pulled herself up into a sitting position, looking at the blonde girl sitting on her bed, leaned against her head board, actually reading the words in a magazine. (Who does that?)

"I know you well enough to know nothing good ever starts with 'Hey, Arty...'" Artemis did a mocking impression of Zatanna, who huffed and crossed her arms.

"Maybe I was going to ask you what you favourite color was."

"You already know what my favourite color is. And my favourite animal. And when my birthday is. And probably a bunch of other useless facts about me."

"Don't forget all the great secrets, too." Zee flashed a mischievous smile.

"Yeah...Which is another reason I'm glad your on _my side_ and won't go telling people said _secrets._ " Arty commented, flipping the page of her magazine.

"Yap noitnetta ot em. M'i gnitanicsaf." Zatanna murmured.

Artemis's eyes snapped up from the pages of the magazine in her lap, curiosity burning in her storm-cloud eyes. Her eyebrows knit together for a second before her expression turned into that _look._ That _Oh you did not just use your powers on me for no good reason._

"Don't use spells on me, Witch Girl."

Zatanna took the moment of distraction to lung forward, snag the magazine out of the archer's lap and lean over to the other side of the bed with it.

"Hey, I was reading that!"

"Sharing is caring." Zatanna smiled.

Artemis rolled her eyes. Ever since the mission, Zatanna had been really into teasing Artemis as much as was humanly possible. As much as was _metahumanly possible_. And her bantering sessions with Dick, don't even get Artemis started. They had gotten even more intense, and before that hadn't even seemed like something that could happen.

 _Near death experiences will do that to you, I suppose._ Artemis thought.

She shifted up onto her knees, leaning over the magician as she tried to reach for the magazine. Zatanna held it further away from her, leaning back, almost over the edge of the bed.

"Give it, Zee." Artemis growled, leaning further over Zee, her fingers just barely reaching the edge of the magazine.

"Make me." Zatanna smiled. Artemis rolled her eyes again, a smile of her own pulling at her features as she leaned a little further. "Ah, Wait--Oof."

They both tumbled off the edge of Zatanna's springy mattress, falling to the floor with a light thump. Artemis was already shifting her legs so she was straddling Zee's hips by the time Zee even knew what was going on. Was Artemis still reaching for the magazine in one of the magician's hands? Wow, Dedication.

"You really want to find out which celebrity had a crush on Nic Cage as a kid, don't you?" Zee commented, finally relinquishing the magazine.

"Call it curiosity." Artemis laughed lightly, snatching up the magazine.

Artemis suddenly became all too aware of her position on top of Zatanna and how....interesting it might look to anyone who came in to check on them right now.

Arty's eyes met with Zee's, the light of her bedside lamp making them sparkle appealingly, an addicting sort of blue filling Artemis's mind. Zatanna's dark hair was tousled from the fall, a slight blush dusted her cheeks and her lips---

Neither of them really knew who initiated the kiss, but, at the moment, they really didn't care. Their lips locked together fiercely at first, all wet and hot and passionate, leaving Artemis gasping for air against Zatanna's lips. The kiss slowed down, becoming thorough and soft. Way different from how they did things in games of spin the bottle or drunken truth or dare. No one was staring at them, and that spurred Artemis to continue her explorations of Zee's mouth. Maybe she'd be able to taste the magic. Zatanna was absolutely sure Artemis was the one who added tongue, kissing her lips apart and delving into her mouth, but really, Zee didn't mind. Her fingers crept up Artemis's arms, to her shoulders, her collar bone, the places where her soft flesh gave way to hard bone. Zee probably could have stayed on the floor with Artemis forever, exploring with hands and tongues and teeth but---

" _Ladies_ " Red Tornado's voice came over the intercom, making Artemis jump. " _Trouble in the 4th quad of Star City. Green Arrow and Red Arrow need back up. Suit up and take your motorcycles. Good luck, Artemis, Miss. Martian and Zatanna."_

_*_

"Do you feel guilty?" Roy asked, his fingers resting on Zatanna's hand, hoping it would move in reaction.

"No." Dinah said. "We do what we do because we thinks its for the greater good."

"'The greater good'? What about doing what's right?" Roy crossed his arms, not taking his eyes off of Zee's sleeping face.

"It's nice when those two things coincide...but..." Dinah trailed off.

"Yeah. That's what I thought." Roy shook his head. "You're forcing me to lie to my friends. To keep this from them."

"It's....It's for the greater good, Roy. Whether or not you think it is."

Roy scoffed, finally looking at Dinah.

"Says who?"

"Batman. Superman. Wonderwoman.  _Green Arrow._ A majority of the League." Dinah said. 

"And the League is always right, right?"

"Maybe not...But they've made their decision, Roy." Black Canary said, her eyes skimming across the peaceful blankness on Zatanna's face.

"They can never know, can they?" Roy asked, bringing his own eyes back to Zee's face. "They can't know that we didn't save Adrian. We damned him."

"No. And it's for the---"

"The greater good. Yeah. Yeah. I get it." Roy snarled.

"I'm sorry, Roy."

"Whatever. You can spend some time with the girl we put in a coma for no good fucking reason. I'm done feeling guilty."

Black Canary wasn't sure if it was the slam of the door as Roy left that made her flinch, or if it was the realization that he was right. And she was for the greater good.

_*_

"We'll have words, later, Zee." Artemis promised as she pulled her biking jacket on over her uniform.

"Can't wait." Zatanna smiled. Artemis rolled her eyes, watching Zee and M'gann walk toward their bikes. She slid her hand into her pocket, wondering what she'd left in this jacket the last time she wore it. Her fingers closed around a small rectangular object, its edges pressing into the skin of her palm as she pulled it out. 

_A flashdrive? What?_

 

**Author's Note:**

> HHHHH. Here we go.


End file.
